Valancy lives a drab life with her overbearing mother and prying aunt. Then a shocking diagnosis from Dr. Trent prompts her to make a fresh start. For the first time, she does and says exactly what she feels. As she expands her limited horizons, Valancy undergoes a transformation, discovering a new world of love and happiness. One of Lucy Maud Montgomery's only novels intended for an adult audience, The Blue Castle is filled with humour and romance. Dr. Collett Tracey teaches Canadian literature at Carleton University. She brings her interest in Canadian modernism and women's writing to her introduction. Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in Clifton (now New London), Prince Edward Island on November 30, 1874. Raised by her maternal grandparents, she attended Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown and obtained her teaching certificate. She later studied literature at Dalhousie University in Halifax. She eventually married Ewan Macdonald, a Presbyterian minister, and had 3 sons with him. She published 12 books in total and died in Toronto in 1942.