As we celebrate Canada Day on July 1, we invite you to discover or rediscover a lesser-known work by one of Canada’s most famous authors, Lucy Maud Montgomery. The Blue Castle is one of this beloved author’s few works not set on Prince Edward Island. In the story, the main character, Valancy Stirling, defies convention to live the life she chooses for herself. This 1926 novel is set in a fictional town based on Bala, Ontario, and showcases in Montgomery’s descriptions the natural beauty of the Muskoka region.

Though PEI is known for its cultural and historic sites related to Montgomery and the fictional Green Gables, Ontario also honours Montgomery’s legacy through Bala’s Museum and The Leaskdale Manse National Historic Site, home of the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society of Ontario and where Montgomery had lived for 15 years. If you visit the site this month, you might catch a musical production of The Blue Castle!

If you have enjoyed The Blue Castle or any of the Anne of Green Gables series, we invite you to explore more works at our extensive special collection: The Works of Lucy Maud Montgomery. If you would like to help us bring more public domain titles like these to Canada, please consider volunteering at our companion site, Distributed Proofreaders Canada.