Cassandra Mortmain narrates the story of I Capture the Castle, a teen novel about how she finds happiness, at last. At seventeen, Cassandra is competing with her sister Rose for the affection of Simon or Neil. Cassandra is often confused, and the picnic is one of a series of episodes in which Cassandra strives for maturity, but never quite gets there. This excerpt is from Dodie Smith’s text:
We drove to the sea. It wasn’t like an ordinary English picnic, because Neil cooked steak over the fire—this is called a “barbecue”; I have been wondering what that was ever since I read about Br’er Rabbit. The steak was burnt outside and raw inside, but wonderfully romantic. Simon was at his youngest and most American that day. He and Neil kept remembering a picnic they had been on together when they were very little boys, before their parents separated.1 suppose they are only gradually getting to know each other again, but I feel sure Neil is already fond of Simon; with Simon one can’t tell, he is so much more reserved. They are both equally kind but Neil’s nature is much warmer, more open. He was nice even to Rose that day—well, most of the time; not that I see how anyone could have helped being, because she was at her very best. Perhaps the sea and the fun of cooking did it—something changed her into a gloriously real person again. She laughed and romped and even slid down sandhills on her stomach. We didn’t bathe because none of us had brought suits—a good job too, as the sea was icy.
See: Dodie Smith. I Capture the Castle (1948); Tim Fywell. I Capture the Castle. The screenplay by Heidi Thomas is based on Dodie Smith’s 1948 novel.
Featured Image: Romola Garai as Cassandra Mortmain, Rose Byrne as Rose Mortmain in Tim Fywall’s I Capture the Castle.