Write Stuff Wednesday with Michelle De Bruin

Michelle De Bruin reflects on the writing of L.M. Montgomery

The quote I am sharing today comes from the book, The Blue Castle. This book is one of my favorites. It was first published in 1926 by L.M. Montgomery, the Canadian author of the Anne of Green Gables series. Here is the quote from the book where we get a chance to see the world from the perspective of the heroine, Valancy Stirling:

Valancy was happy, gloriously and entirely so. She seemed to be living in a wonderful house of life and every day opened a new, mysterious room. It was in a world which had nothing in common with the one she had left behind, a world where time was not—which was young with immortal youth—where there was neither past nor future but only the present. She surrendered herself utterly to the charm of it.

The book is about Valancy who is a member of a large family clan. They are respectable, but stuffy. Their values and philosophies are left over from the Victorian era. Valancy has always been looked down upon and subdued by her family. She reaches her twenty-ninth birthday and also receives some bad news about her health. She has one year to live so takes the risk of leaving home and living her life the way she wants to live it and not according to the expectations of her snobbish clan. In the end, Valancy is pleasantly surprised in her choice of a husband and goes on to live a beautiful life of romance and freedom.

The story of Valancy is appealing because we all dream dreams and struggle against forces and attitudes that get in the way of them coming true. Even though it is fiction, The Blue Castle proves that dreams do come true, and we can help that happen by taking a stand for our values and being true to ourselves like Valancy did.

Meet Michelle: Michelle De Bruin lives in Iowa with her husband and two teenage sons. She has a bachelor’s degree in Religion with a Christian Ministry emphasis, and in Music. Michelle is the spiritual services provider for an organization that offers services for people with mental and physical disabilities. She has been a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) since 2015. Michelle writes inspirational historical romance about people who live in rural communities. Characters that bring to life the delights of farm and small-town living, whispers of Dutch heritage, and Christian faith make Michelle’s stories distinct. A romantic at heart, Michelle is always on the lookout for glimpses of God’s love through the window of a good story. Her first book, Hope for Tomorrow, released in 2018. The sequel, Promise for Tomorrow, released November 2019.