A dated but wonderful book -- a friend and I attempted to adapt it as for the musical stage in college. The comedy and tragedy within a huge extended family comes to a head when the matriarchal figure, Aunt Becky, decides that she's lived long enough and plans to leave one of them a valuable heirloom (but who will it be?). As they all wrangle for her notice, their individual stories play out. There is love, betrayal, absurdity, offense, scandal, style, sweetness, craziness... everything you can think of is packed into this one. Some of the language has become offensive to the modern ear (the n-word is used with great emphasis as the punchline to one story), and reader's have to keep the author's context (white Scottish-Canadian society at the turn of the century) in mind. But overall the book succeeds because of Montgomery's trademark strength: subversive wit and excellently crafted characters.

Compared to a lot of L. M. Montgomery’s books (normally pretty lighthearted and tender and predictable) this was a TRIP. All the jumping around between different characters left me wanting more every time there was a cliffhanger. And I was really rooting for all the characters to get happy endings because at the beginning I was afraid they wouldn’t. Mostly because that catty Aunt Becky was so eager to turn everyone’s lives upside down.
Such a good commentary on the complexity of life, family dynamics, and love. The title says it all!

It all begins with garrulous Aunt Becky and the infamous Dark jug. She may be dying but the old matriarch of the large Dark and Penhallow clan is determined to throw one last "levee" - and stir up her extended family with her plan for bequeathing the heirloom. Dating back to when the first Darks came to Prince Edward Island in the early 19th century, the Dark jug has been in the family ever since, and with it comes a certain prestige for the owner. Over the generations, the Darks and Penhallows have intermarried time and again, and now they gather in Aunt Becky's rooms to hear what's to become of this jug, and who will get it.

But sharp-tongued Aunt Becky's not about to make things easy for them. She announces that the new owner of the jug will be announced a year from October, and that Dandy Dark is trusted with the secret - or perhaps he will make the decision on her behalf, so everyone should be on their toes.

And so they all are. Drowned John and Titus Dark stop swearing, knowing that Aunt Becky wouldn't give the jug to someone who curses all the time. Tempest Dark decides to finally start his history of the clan that he's been talking about doing for years. And perpetual bachelor Penny Dark thinks maybe he should get married, if he wants to get the jug, and casts his eye upon the spinsters in the clan.

Meanwhile young, pretty Gay Penhallow is caught up in love with Noel Gibson, while her sophisticated and seductive cousin Nan decides to steal him away. Peter Penhallow suddenly and violently falls in love with widowed Donna Dark, whom he has hated since they were children - only he's been travelling through Africa and South America so much he hasn't seen her since, or not until Aunt Becky's infamous final levee. Joscelyn and Hugh Dark, separated on their wedding night for reasons unknown, still yearn for things they cannot have. And forty year old spinster and dressmaker Margaret Penhallow too yearns for things she feels she can never have: a beautiful little baby to adopt and the little old house she calls Whispering Winds.

At the centre of it all is the jug, and Aunt Becky's final surprise.

According to the inscription on the inside of my copy, I got this book for my birthday in 1993 from my brother (meaning, my mum picked it out for him to give to me), when I turned 14. As far as I can remember I only read it once, but I did love it. I'm always wanted to re-read it, and now I finally have I can say that I still love it. Allowing so much to go by meant that it felt like visiting old friends I hadn't seen in a long time, but with all the surprises still intact: I couldn't remember what had driven Hugh and Joscelyn apart, I couldn't remember how Donna and Peter finally overcame her father, Drowned John's, refusal to let them marry; and I couldn't quite remember what happened to Gay Penhallow - though I was pretty sure she did end up with thirty-year-old Roger, the clan doctor (rest assured, it's not as Jane Austen as it sounds - Gay is no Mariane Dashwood).

There are of course A LOT of characters to keep track of, and at first they tend to blend one into another (for instance, there are two Penny Darks: one is the bachelor and the other is Joscelyn's sister-in-law), and it doesn't help that they go by the old naming conventions (e.g. "Mrs Frank Dark"); you'd think it would but it doesn't.

But Montgomery focuses on the main characters, and since the novel takes place over about a year and a half, we get to know characters, progress somewhat with their story, then come back to them later, so you do get very familiar with them - and like I said, they start to feel like your own crazy extended family! Montgomery is so good at writing these character sketches (one has only to read those scenes set around the dinner table at family gatherings in The Blue Castle to get a sense for it), that for all their eccentricities you have to wonder just how many of them were based on real people Montgomery knew.

The pacing is wonderful: brisk and rolling like gentle hills, here getting dramatic, then slowing down again for a spell, a breather, before dashing off into a new plot. Perhaps the most tragic character for me was little Brian Dark, whose mother, Laura, died when he was young, never revealing who the father was, so that Brian lives with his uncle Duncan Dark and his family, barely fed or clothed and given endless chores, mostly to look after the dairy cows. It broke my heart a little bit, especially now that I have my own little boy.

The story is told with Montgomery's usual insightful wit and honesty, and an artist's touch: she knew when to get in there and strip a character bare, and when to hold back and let things reveal themselves to the observant reader, on their own. I should add a warning for American readers: the final sentence does include the "n-word", which should be taken in the context of the period it was written in, as well as the character who uses it - don't let it put you off this author, who weaves magic with her words in the simplest, most unpretentious ways.

۳ از ۵
یه جورایی ناامیدم کرد

This book is hilarious! Even though I've already read it twice, I still keep laughing at the same places . In my opinion, this book is one of Montgomery's best works. It doesn't focus on one character, it looks at the same scene from all directions.

Enjoyable read apart from the racism on the last page it leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth.

I felt that there were too many characters to keep up with. I think that this book would have been better as a series of short stories.

One of my favorites of LM Montgomery's books. It's a little purposefully murky, and there are numerous errors--I'm sure it was hard to keep track of all those people with the same name--but the human emotions are right on, particularly of Gay and Donna. It's also a really great way to get some insight into dating/courtship/marriage mores of the time (the 1920s, though most of the people are more old-fashioned than, say, New Yorkers in the 1920s).

به امید توصیفات قشنگ رفتم سراغش بلکه حالمو خوب کنه‌.‌..
نمی‌گم بد بود، ولی در مقایسه با بقیه کتاباش هیییچ بود، هیچ:))
چیزی که منو خیلی اذیت کرد نوع عشق و عاشقی و ازدواج‌هاشون بود، آخه چیزیم نبود که بگیم «اون موقع عادی بوده»
شخصیت‌های کتاب به وضوح اشاره می‌کنن به اینکه ازدواج دکتر ۳۱ ساله با یه جوون ۱۸ ساله درست نیست!
ولی خب کیوتی‌های خودش رو هم داشت :*

When I was rereading and reviewing The Blue Castle I came across mentions of L.M. Montgomery's other novel targeted toward adults - A Tangled Web. I knew I had read it because if it was by L.M. Montgomery and the Robinson Public Library owned it I read it. I really couldn't remember much. This definitely lacked much of the charm of The Blue Castle and as it focused on so many characters it was hard to get attached to any. It is also hard to review a book that ends with such controversy. No spoilers - book ends with a racist joke using the same language that gets Huck Finn on Banned Books lists. Even in the context of 1931 it is a terrible way to finish a book. I wonder what my eleven year old self thought of it? That said there are still some beautiful passages about PEI making me once again go online to find out how much it costs to fly there.

This was one of the most entertaining books of this genre I have ever read. Montgomery has such a knack for portraying silly, interesting, still very convincing and lifelike characters. And the clan and family dynamics seem true and familiar as ever, showing that people are the same no matter where, and have the same life dreams, hopes, disappointments and wonders in their life. One of my favorite books by Montgomery, Anne and Emily series included. Such a joy to read.

عاشقش شدم. قلم مونتگمری جادوییه. از زندگی می‌نویسه واقعا. داستان یک کوزه‌ی نه چندان مهم که تغییرات خیلی مهمی رو توی زندگی مردم روستا به وجود میاره.
هر فصل درباره‌ یه خونه و خونواده‌ست. تکامل شخصیت‌ها رو دوست دارم. هر چند که پایانش کمی کلیشه‌ای و قابل حدسه اما باز هم دوست‌داشتنی و جالبه. با شوخی و بامزگی هم تمومش می‌کنه مونتگمری. کامن سنس و شوخ طبعی بالایی داره. دوسش داشتم و اگر قصر آبی رو خوندید و دوست داشتید، این رو هم بخونید خوشتون میاد.