Autumn Sings the Blues

Evening dress, c. 1920 by Sadie Nemser

This dress is made of silk velvet, decorated with beads and rhinestones

I was waiting for the outcome of Uncle James's meeting with Lawyer Ferguson. While Dr Marsh acted as a conscientious doctor, he saw nothing wrong with Valancy's conduct, a lawyer can always scheme something out, especially if you pay them good money. But even he could do nothing--what was there to be done anyway. (I wonder also if everyone in town is sick of the Stirlings).

Of course, the Stirlings had not left the poor maniac alone all this time or refrained from heroic efforts to rescue her perishing soul and reputation.

This line kills me. Go snarky LMM.

A small detail--Valancy is described as scouring the porridge pot when Uncle James arrives. So they have porridge at Roaring Abel's, the food we were told early in the book that Valancy disliked. I wonder--does she like it now, bc she prepares it the way she likes, or is it bc she is in a better environment with a better company? Or this is something that LMM just overlooked? (She can be inconsistent sometimes.)

Valancy 'breaking her mother's heart' (GOOD!) is a stupid argument but it's not like Uncle James cares about Mrs Frederick, he's only doing it bc he hates the fact that Valancy broke free. I mean, it's not like Mrs Frederick is heartbroken over Valancy due to her maternal love--we know she has none--she just can't stand the fact that she is no longer in control of her daughter. Hypocrisy all round.

James Stirling got no further. Roaring Abel crossed the kitchen at a bound, caught him by his collar and his trousers, and hurled him through the doorway and over the garden paling with as little apparent effort as he might have employed in whisking a troublesome kitten out of the way.

Oooh, this is most satisfying. (It reminds me of Norman Douglas throwing Whiskers on the Moon out of the church in ROI. Norman and Abel are similar characters.) Old Valancy was in awe of Uncle James, she saw him as a bastion of wisdom--and now she sees he is 'nothing but a rather stupid little village tin-god'. The reader knew it already, the reader saw there was not one intelligent bone in his body (the only interesting he did was when he quoted that verse at the dinner table, but that's exception to the rule).

“The next time you come back here,” he bellowed, “I’ll throw you through the window—and all the better if the window is shut! Coming here, thinking yourself God to put the world to rights!”

Noo, not a shut window, Abel, you'd then have to tidy up the broken glass and get a new glass. He's not worth it!

"The Almighty made a mistake in making so many Stirlings. But since they are made, we’ve got to reckon with them. Too many to kill out. But if they come here bothering you I’ll shoo ’em off before a cat could lick its ear.”

Well, you can always make a deal with the devil to reduce the number of Stirlings?

Dr Stalling now, I see why he is the person who would easily terrify you. I've been brought up without religion, clergy don't arouse any feelings in me, but I look at him as someone who is in a position of authority. So I can understand Valancy being scared of that pointing finger. Abel literally thinks 'beats all, the power these preacher fellows have over women'.

I will say something in his favour, though, I like that he went on hikes around Muskoka and Mistawis, it shows he has taste in nice scenery at least. But that's about it.

I ask this bc of oft mentioned religious ignorance, but could Dr Stalling not refuse Uncle James's request? 'Family disputes are not in my job description, Mr Stirling.' The narrative stresses that he was not thrilled about being tasked with coaxing Valancy back and he didn't want to go to Abel's and he didn't think her insane. To what extent do clergy interfere with people's private lives?

Back of her terror Valancy smiled in secret. Uncle James must indeed regard the matter as desperate when he would loosen his purse-strings like that. At any rate, her clan no longer despised her or ignored her. She had become important to them.

I like this.

Valancy's old fear returns--and once again John Foster's quote coming to the rescue. The line that changed her life forever.

I suppose it would be too much to expect from Dr Stalling to understand why Valancy does not want to return home, why she hates her childhood memories (to which he actually contributed) and cares nothing for public opinion. His doctorate didn't teach him that.

Cousin Georgiana is rather sweet. She just needs a bosom friend to get a bit wild with. And she's also overlooked by the clan. But did she advise Valancy on how to make the perfect creamed codfish?

“We’ll just have to wait,” said Uncle Benjamin. “After all, Cissy Gay can’t live long. Dr. Marsh tells me she may drop off any day.”

Oh hi, Ben, not seen you for a while.

It would seem that Dr Marsh--who I consider one of the quiet valuable players of this story--is being unethical by giving out patient's confidential information to strangers. But, did he really tell that to Uncle Benjamin, or is Uncle Benjamin just talking? He likes talking a lot. Also note that he has not made any attempt to get Valancy to leave Abel's; he sees quite rightly that the right course of action is to just let her be. Like I keep saying, the guy just talks--he is more of a comic relief than anything else. I think he is feeling totally unbalanced bc Valancy turned his whole worldview upside down and he has no idea what to do about it. He's not even said any riddle for a while.

Mrs. Frederick wept. It would really have been so much easier to bear if Valancy had died. She could have worn mourning then.

Does anything surprise us about Mrs Frederick at this point?

Valancy was acquainted with Barney by now—well acquainted, it seemed, though she had spoken to him only a few times. But then she had felt just as well acquainted with him the first time they had met. She had been in the garden at twilight, hunting for a few stalks of white narcissus for Cissy’s room when she heard that terrible old Grey Slosson coming down through the woods from Mistawis—one could hear it miles away. Valancy did not look up as it drew near, thumping over the rocks in that crazy lane. She had never looked up, though Barney had gone racketting past every evening since she had been at Roaring Abel’s.

So I missed the fact that this was their first meeting. This is the first reread I realized that.

Ok so before their first meeting Barney and Abel have been talking about Valancy extensively on their little bro fishing trips. Abel is absolutely telling Barney about the family coming by and Valancy standing her ground. You know he told him about the whistling undertaker story. And he’s also talking about how much good it’s done Cissy and how wonderful it is to have the house in order again.

Barney clearly admires her for all of this. He gets what she’s risking with her family and having been on the receiving end of Deerwood gossip he gets that she’s thrown her life away for this. He probably also gets that that’s worse for her than for him as a man in this toxic little town.

He starts to think about her a lot and he thinks about her day to day experience in Roaring Abel’s house vs how she grew up (which obviously he doesn’t fully Get but he at least knows she grew up all proper.)

He chastises Abel about cussing in front of her and Abel cheerily relays the whole “you must use the boot scraper whether you consign it to perdition or not” and the laughing fit they got into over “what use is a rage” “it’s such a damned relief!”

Pretty much the first time Roaring Abel mentions Valancy Barney’s curiosity has him driving by the house that night to catch a glimpse of her. It starts to be A Thing he does every night. He knows the car is loud af. Why won’t she ever look up?

Finally after about a week of this he realizes he’s being ridiculous and goes to talk to her.

Barney’s such a loner and he’s so good at wilderness (even in the Yukon). You can’t tell me he actually needs to drive to the grocery store or whatever every night.

@deemoyza innnnnteresting!! I missed that!

“Since then he had called several times, walking down through the barrens, whistling.”

Wakes up from hypnosis where he was about to marry a woman he’s never seen before with his mystery girl’s voice, the instant he wakes up then the cute girl he’s actually fallen in love with now has that voice. Then she drops to the floor and has a fish tail, and then the first girl is suddenly cackling “too late!” and bursting out of her skin. So it turns out she’s actually an octopus woman who drags herself over to the real mystery girl - who’s a mermaid?! They’re real?! - and taking her back into the ocean. And Eric has no idea what’s going on here but okay, one of these women is clearly evil and he needs to go after his mystery girl.

And all of this happens/he realizes what he has to do within like, a single minute.

Prior to this he was just living out a sweet romance after having a Meet Cute with a shipwrecked girl, but okay, guess he’s involved in whatever the fuck this is. Acting first, questioning later.

Dr. Stalling faceclaim!

This is one of my favorite chapters in the book. I think it strikes a wonderful balance at what it is trying to say.

“When Abel Gay paid Valancy her first month’s wages—which he did promptly, in bills reeking with the odour of tobacco and whiskey”

Montgomery is trying to be balanced in her depiction of Abel: He is responsible enough to give her wages “promptly” but unconventional enough to have them smell of tobacco and whiskey.

“Valancy went into Deerwood and spent every cent of it. She got a pretty green crêpe dress with a girdle of crimson beads, at a bargain sale, a pair of silk stockings, to match, and a little crinkled green hat with a crimson rose in it. She even bought a foolish little beribboned and belaced nightgown.”

Iconic. So iconic that I want to buy clothes myself, and I hate doing that.

“No doubt her mother was sitting in the room this lovely June evening playing solitaire—and cheating. Valancy knew that Mrs. Frederick always cheated. She never lost a game.”

Wonderful character detail.

“Yet she sighed as she went down to meet Barney Snaith in her old snuff-brown silk. That green thing had been very becoming—she had seen so much in her one ashamed glance. Above it her eyes had looked like odd brown jewels and the girdle had given her flat figure an entirely different appearance. She wished she could have left it on.”

In this chapter Valancy is very motivated by her crush on Barney. Some might find it annoying, I love it personally.

“But there were some things John Foster did not know.”

Well, John Foster is a man.

“An old man, who lived in Port Lawrence and came out by the lake in a little disappearing propeller boat”

That type of boat was invented in 1915, so the book is taking place after that. Good, good.

“An old man, who lived in Port Lawrence and came out by the lake in a little disappearing propeller boat to give a free service to the people of the small, stony farms back of the hills, who would otherwise never have heard any gospel message.”

I like that he is giving free services. And apparently Free Methodists were originally an abolitionist sect. Good again.

“Oddly enough, Roaring Abel disapproved of her going to the hill church as strongly as Mrs. Frederick herself could have done. He had “no use for Free Methodists. He was a Presbyterian.” But Valancy went in spite of him.”

Valancy is afraid of nobody. She is her own person now.

“If she only had a necklace or something. She wouldn’t feel so bare then.”

Foreshadowing.

“You look so nice and—and—different, dear,” said Cissy. “Like a green moonbeam with a gleam of red in it, if there could be such a thing.”

Cissy is the person who first likens Valancy to moonlight! I love this.

“At first the dance was quiet enough, and Valancy was amused and entertained. She even danced twice herself, with a couple of nice “up back” boys who danced beautifully and told her she did, too.”

We have been told in Long Night of the Soul that Valancy was good at dancing.

“No beaut but cute-looking, I’ll say. ’Jever see such eyes?”

Again, Valancy’s eyes are commented on.

“The big room was decorated with pine and fir boughs, and lighted by Chinese lanterns.”

I gave the Chinese restaurant Chinese lanterns in my fanfic and had Valancy admire them. I wish I had remembered that she saw them at Chidley Corners already.

“Valancy, alone in her corner, was feeling disgusted and repentant. Why had she ever come to such a place? Freedom and independence were all very well, but one should not be a little fool. She might have known what it would be like—she might have taken warning from Cissy’s guarded sentences. Her head was aching—she was sick of the whole thing.”

Some might find this didactic but I think Montgomery makes it work. This event won’t make Valancy more subdued again, and yes, women sometimes need to be careful for their own safety. It is a very good lesson, efficiently told.

I also love that Cissy also dislikes Chidley Corners and tries to warn Valancy.

“It was at this moment that she saw Barney Snaith looking in over the heads of the crowd at the doorway. Valancy had two distinct convictions—one was that she was quite safe now; the other was that this was why she had wanted to come to the dance. It had been such an absurd hope that she had not recognised it before, but now she knew she had come because of the possibility that Barney might be there, too. She thought that perhaps she ought to be ashamed for this, but she wasn’t.”

Some readers might be annoyed at all roads leading to Barney, I am not. Valancy had been yearning for romance since page two, and sexual repression is one of her main demons. I love her lack of shame in admitting this to herself.

“Valancy tried desperately and vainly to free herself. She was being dragged out into the maze of shouting, stamping, yelling dancers. The next moment the man who held her went staggering across the room from a neatly planted blow on the jaw, knocking down whirling couples as he went. Valancy felt her arm grasped.”

Look, I am not normally a fan of male love interest saving the main character from sexual assault and this becoming a bonding moment in their romance. I am not necessarily a “fan” either in this case, but the surrounding context of Valancy’s broader excessive freedom arc and Cissy’s previous warning make it okay for me.

“And yet she was enjoying herself—was full of a strange exultation—bumping over that rough road beside Barney Snaith. The big trees shot by them. The tall mulleins stood up along the road in stiff, orderly ranks like companies of soldiers. The thistles looked like drunken fairies or tipsy elves as their car-lights passed over them. This was the first time she had even been in a car. After all, she liked it. She was not in the least afraid, with Barney at the wheel. Her spirits rose rapidly as they tore along. She ceased to feel ashamed. She ceased to feel anything except that she was part of a comet rushing gloriously through the night of space.”

I do love this. I love this ride. Actually Chapter 21 (the next chapter) might be my favorite in the book.

“Well, what’s the matter with that?” said Valancy.

“We may have to sit here all night,” said Barney.

“I don’t mind,” said Valancy.

Barney gave a short laugh. “If you don’t, I needn’t. I haven’t any reputation to lose.”

“Nor I,” said Valancy comfortably.”

I love her so much. I love her wit. I love her bravery.

This is one of those things that really resonated with me as a trans person with a lot of trans friends of all genders. You finally buy the gender-affirming clothes, you're dazzled by them in the shop, you go home and put them on in private, and yes, you look just like the mental image of yourself...

except you also feel awkward and foolish and you know everyone would hate it and you're just crushed about it. And you bury them under the clothes you hate because it's just easier to keep wearing those.

As with all my Trans Thoughts on The Blue Castle, I obviously know these are things applicable to a lot of people of all experiences, of course, and I am by no means saying Valancy is trans or intentionally trans/queer coded! But if you go with my previously mentioned observation that Valancy has been forced into one specific gender/presentation (old maid, basically from childhood) and is wanting desperately to be seen as a specific gender/presentation (pretty young woman), it's one of those things I couldn't let pass.

Oh, Valancy. I’m proud of her for buying herself something beautiful, and I hope one day she will feel she deserves to wear it.

There’s a hint at the existence of breasts here! I’m imagining people reading it and being shocked a hundred years ago…and I confess, I’m delighted.

I like Valancy’s church experience. I don’t know what else to say about it. I just like it. I guess what I’m trying to say is that that’s what partaking in religion should be—something that you like, and something that you feel does you good. That simple description is so much more real to me than any other description of religion Montgomery writes. I don’t know if it’s a me thing, or if it’s that for once, she was writing what she herself believed rather than what she thought she was supposed to. I wonder if there’s any parallel between how Montgomery writes about romance and how she writes about religion. In “The Blue Castle”, both reject the conventions that she often uses in other books, and both feel more real and right and healthy than the others.

I don’t know. I started that paragraph with absolutely no idea where I was going, and I’m not quite sure where I went. But there it is.

I’m glad Valancy goes to the dance herself, if that’s what she wants. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about Roaring Abel ordering her to do it. I think he means well, but in the context of what we’ve already discussed of his not giving Cissy information she needed and then blaming her for not having it, something feels a little…off to me. Let me try to organize my thoughts. I think I a) don’t like the idea of an employer giving their employee orders about how to spend their spare time, b) feel that Abel should have given Valancy more information about what she would experience at the dance. Am I asking too much of the “old sinner”? Maybe. But still.

All of that said, I’m thrilled that Valancy is wearing the dress. She deserves to feel beautiful.

Cissy is the best. Her father may not prep Valancy, but she does.

Valancy’s reaction to being called “no beaut but cute-looking” makes me wonder how she would react to being called “tolerable” by Mr. Darcy. At first I thought she might take it as a compliment. Then I changed my mind. Valancy may enjoy being noticed for the first time in her life, but she has dignity, and she would feel the sting of everything else Darcy says just as much as Elizabeth—if not more. With how fragile her self-esteem still is, I worry she would take it too much to heart. Let’s be thankful that she has Barney instead.

"––I want to tell you that you have acted an iniquitous part in luring this weak and unfortunate girl away from her home and friends, and––"

From the wonderful world of Jane Austen analysis, I've learned that sometimes back in Ye Olden Days, even close relatives could be referred to as friends (I think in Pride and Prejudice, someone talks about Lydia's friends when they clearly mean her relatives)... but even if that was still the case when The Blue Castle was published, friends, huh. Such hypocrisy on Uncle James's part to use that word. So very friendly you've always been towards her!

~

"Then Cousin Georgiana came—on her own initiative, for nobody would have thought it worth while to send her."

I'm really starting to get the vibe that all of the Stirling women would be so much happier if they dared to follow Valancy's example and free themselves from the clan.

~

Fun facts about the Free Methodist Church: one of their founding principles was freedom for all people from slavery, and they started ordaining women as deacons (a lower rank of clergy that's not eligible for senior leadership roles) in 1911. Wonder which one of these things weighed more heavily on Mrs. Frederick when she took to her bed after hearing the rumours of Valancy's conversion?

~

Though I obviously don't enjoy Valancy being in danger for a while here, I do like that she's shown to be a bit naive about certain things in life. She has lived a very sheltered life in many respects, it feels very realistic that she doesn't really understand how a drunken party might turn out to be like.

What doesn't feel realistic, to be quite honest, is Barney. He arrives just when he is needed, saves Valancy by decking a would-be molester with apparent ease, and we've already found out he's a perfect gentleman who never forgets to bring oranges to a dying woman, an adventurer, and also a friend to all animals. Feels a bit Gary Stu-ish, dare I say?

But then again, I guess there are the rumours of Barney being reputed jail-breaker, infidel, etc., etc. Perhaps the fact that he has a bad reputation and the idea that he might be hiding something are supposed to balance out the overflowing Prince Charming qualities.

~

Translation notes:

"Roaring Abel crossed the kitchen at a bound, caught him by his collar and his trousers, and hurled him through the doorway––"

In Finland, we have a word for this specific manouver: "niskaperseote" = "neck-ass-grasp". Sadly, the translator does not use it here.

to really boil it down to essentials like ...

childhood trauma is overwhelmingly common

childhood trauma creates long term stress which leads to nervous system disregulation [same source]

nervous system disregulation leads to inflammation in the brain

inflammation in the brain leads to "mental illnesses" like schizophrenia, major depression, and ptsd

these things contribute to stress, ensuring the stress stays chronic as well as the nervous system disregulation, which leads to physical illness and premature death

and then you look at like ...

spending time in green spaces like forests and blue spaces like oceans and rivers are both therapeutic

singing (especially group singing) boosts your immune system, mood, and regulates your nervous system

exercise regulates your nervous system and alleviates "mental illness" symptoms

playing is therapeutic and integrates your emotions and identity even in the face of trauma

and its like. oh okay. as modern cultures we barely have time for and are discouraged from participating in all the things we evolved to thrive with while constantly heaping on the amount of stress we can possibly fit in our day to day lives

and its like well no wonder people love concerts and karaoke and national parks and sports and going to the beach and playing games. these things Literally make us healthier

but also we need to make these things more regular parts of our lives if we're gonna have the endurance to fight rising global capitalism, fascism, and genocide

so my tips for Surviving All This Shit:

go to the park or be around a body of water at least once a week. schedule a time & make it part of your routine

exercise for 20-30 minutes most days, whether its walking around your neighborhood, playing a sport, lifting weights while you watch tv, swimming, etc

sing with your friends. go to local concerts. sing to your pets. sing at religious services. join a choir

play a game at least once a week. obv my recommendation is ttrpgs (anything but d&d 5e, i beg), but this also includes any video game that's not online competitive games against strangers. playing video games for 30 minutes a day but not over 3 hours a day is literally healthy for you

stop looking at traumatic news if youre not going to do anything about it. if you read a news article and then go volunteer, get involved in a community, donate money, or engage in activism, that's awesome!! keep it up. if you read the news regularly and it makes you upset and scared and depressed and then youre too overwhelmed to do anything about it Please Stop For Real you're both not helping the situation and also actively literally killing yourself. find one topic to engage with, find a way to make a difference for that topic, and delete the news app from your phone im being so real right now

read nonfiction by indigenous authors! this is just a general tip but also like. open your mind to other ways of society operating. it was not always like this and does not have to stay this way. if you see a recommendation post on here seriously look at the recs and try to get one from your library. there's a rec list of indigenous nonfiction here and another rec list here for some options that could be good to start with (both very north america focused). you can also search "indigenous nonfiction" in the tumblr search to see what others are reading. i'm currently making my way through braiding sweetgrass and indigenous economics is next on my list