From the author of Anne of Green Gables, comes the story of Valancy Stirling, who feels trapped and invisible among her family and close-knit community. Having just turned 29, Valancy finds herself single with no prospects for marriage. She lacks conventional beauty, wealth, or any special talents. What she does have is her Blue Castle, a place that she’s had since childhood, where she can seek refuge when things become overwhelming.

But by her 29th birthday, even thoughts of the Blue Castle couldn’t console her. Add to this a doctor’s diagnosis of terminal heart disease (she has a year to live), and Valancy finally snaps. Informing no one of her diagnosis, or pent-up frustrations, Valancy decides to “live” for the first time in her life. To her respectable family’s horror and confusion, Valancy changes her look, hangs out with disreputable people, and even…starts attending a different church!

With time running out, Valancy throws caution (and her timid personality) to the winds. But can she find true love while her existence can be numbered in months, not years? And will she find someone to share her Blue Castle?

I found it fun to cheer for Valancy in this book! In many instances, her family members, and some of the townspeople, prove to be very narrow-minded and meddlesome. They try to cajole her, guilt her, threaten her, even sicking the pastor on her, but at every attempt to put her back into her place, Valancy simply smiles and continues to live her new life.