The Mortmain family is an odd family unit living in an odd residence. The family exists of sisters Rose and Cassandra, their brother Thomas, their father, their step-mother Topaz, and their orphaned helping hand Stephen. The family lives in an old dilapidated castle and their money is running out as they wait for their father to return to his writing glory and follow up his first successful book with another. When brothers Simon and Neil Cottom get stuck in the Mortmain drive, their world starts to change. They just inherited land from England even though they had been living in America for a while. Rose determines that she is going to make one of the brothers fall in love with her so that she no longer has to live in poverty. Cassandra finds herself being left at home more and more as her family goes on trips to London with the Cottons, which gets Cassandra thinking about whether she agrees with Rose's selfishness. As she writes in her journal, she tries to find a way to help her father get back into writing. The book is told through Cassandra's journal entries. She believes that she may be able to become a writer some day so she has some pretty lengthy descriptions of things that are not essential to moving the story along. I found myself skimming through these parts because I wanted to get on with the story. Rose's selfishness also made me increasingly frustrated with her as I got further and further through the book. Maybe that was the point though? For a BBC Top 100 book I expected more from this book. There was a twist at the end but I felt it kind of fizzled out and wasn't worth the journey.

This is by far one of my favorite books. Cassandra tells the story of her peculiar family and the thinks they do to get out of poverty. The first chapter is a little long but after that you can't put it down! Cassandra tells the story in such a charismatic and honest way. I felt like i really knew her and i understood her. I recommend this book to anybody that loves a beautifully told story of love.

I thought this book was a magical piece of work, I couldnt even put it down. I love the way the author connected each character to one another through their arguments and their turmoil. i enjoyed this book very much and i recommend it to anyone who loves a perfect love story.

This book is well worth a read. It kept my interest the intire time(literally too, i read it in 1 day and i'm not a fast reader). It is the best book. I really enjoyed it.

I did not enjoy this book. I knew as soon as I opened it and read the frist page I wouldn't. The language is hard to understand-since the book takes place in the 1930's. The plot is also strange and boring. Definitely not worth spending time reading.

This was one of the worst books I have ever read. The ending was awful, stupid and the worst I have ever read. I do not recommend it to anyone.

This was a great book, and it was very exciting. I could not put it down. It takes you into a fairytale land, and is a must read. The only thing i did not enjoy was the end, in which i feel that casandra and Stefan should have ended off more happy, they shoud have been together, if you get the hint.....

This book is one of the finest I have ever had the chance to read. I stumbled across is one day in my school library, and am very thankful I did. It was so descriptive and the characters so real. By the end of it, I felt that I actually knew them personally. It was so splendid to read, I just couldn't put it down! When I finished it, I was so terribly sad that my marvelous adventure was over. And it has one of the best and surprising endings I've ever come across. If you are doubting about buying or reading this book, don't! Once you read it, you'll never forget it. It certainly captured me!

This book was the best book I've ever read. I couldn't put it down. I read it during school, at home...basically everywhere I went. I lost the book and when I came to get a new one there were no more left. All stores should have this book in stock. It deserves to be read.

This was an excellent book! I would recommend it to anyone who thinks that their family is strange. If you do, think again for you have never met Cassandra's family! The scenes are romantic, heartwarming, and even humourous. Not only did she 'capture the castle', but Cassandra has also captured the hearts of everyone who has read this book!