Explore Ontario Summer By Reading The Blue Castle
"Muskoka is the only place I've ever been in that it could be my Island's rival in my heart. So I wanted to write a story about it."- Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings by Mary Henley Rubio pg 331
Most of L.M. Montgomery’s novels are set in PEI, except for one book, The Blue Castle (1926). A bestseller, and one of Montgomery's few adult novels, it takes place entirely in the province of Ontario.
In the summer of 1922, Maud and her family spent two weeks in the town of Bala, a town 127 miles north of Toronto on the shore of Lake Muskoka. Bala was one of Ontario's most popular vacation spots at the time for Torontonians. Those that were well off would drive up in their own cars, or by train, wanting to escape the summer heat in pre-air-conditioned times.
The Macdonald family heading for Bala, July 1922. Courtesy of Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph, L.M. Montgomery Collection
At the turn of the 20th century, Muskoka was known as Canada’s literary summer capital thanks to the Chautauqua movement. Chautauqua was part of a larger American movement established to bring culture and arts to the communities. In Muskoka, they held conferences every summer at Windermere House, Elgin House, and Tobin Island. Sherwood Inn hosted several prominent individuals, including Thomas B. Costain, a best-selling author of historical fiction and Head of Story Development at Twentieth Century Fox (1934 to 1942).
Author Thomas B. Costain visits. An Inn-spiring legacy: The Draper era at Sherwood Inn
Maud was the most famous guest to stay at the Roselawn lodge, at one point among the most refined inns in the area. Maud and her family would eat their meals at the Tree Lawn Tourist Home down the road (currently the Bala's Museum). She spent her time checking the English proofs for her upcoming book Emily of New Moon, but it was this trip that would inspire her to write her 15th novel The Blue Castle.
L.M. Montgomery on the veranda in the background in 1922. Courtesy of Archival & Special Collections University of Guelph, L.M. Montgomery Collection
Maud began writing The Blue Castle two years later in April 1924. Bala had remained in her mind and had the same otherworld quality of Pince Edward Island and Scotland. The book was published in August 1926 and she received her first copy on August 5th.
"My Blue Castle came today. It has a make-up different from all my other books. Not so pretty. A plain cover."– pg 301 – The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Volume III: 1921 – 1929
The Publisher McClelland and Stuart may not have been optimistic enough about the adult book to invest in its presentation, but Editions since 1926 included a castle on the cover.
The Blue Castle is set in the fictional town of Deerwood in the early 1900s and tells the story of 29-year-old Valency Stirling, an ‘old maid’ who has never been in love. Living with her overbearing mother and meddlesome aunt, she finds consolations in the "forbidden" books of John Foster and daydreams of the Blue Castle. When a letter arrives, Valency gets a shocking diagnosis that she has one year to live. For the first time in her life Valancy does and says exactly what she wants, discovering a surprising new world full of adventures, and falls in love with a mysterious outcast with a dark past.
At the time of it's publication, The Blue Castle was a risqué rom-com and explored topics that were radical in its day. The character ‘Cissy’ becomes an outcast from Deerwood upon returning to their small community, unwed and pregnant after working as a waitress in a Muskoka hotel. The character ‘Roaring Able’ is looked down on because of his swearing, and sometimes drunken behavior. Valency also falls in love with Barney Snaith, a man believed to be a scoundrel and a criminal.
During Maud’s trip in Bala she was invited to visit Rev. John Mustard’s cottage on Lake Muskoka (Maud’s former teacher in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, in 1890-91 who had courted her). Mustard eventually became a well-known Presbyterian minister in the Toronto area and lived with his family there for many years, crossing paths with Maud and her minister husband Ewan. It has been suggested that Reverend John Mustard was a model for the character ‘Barney Snaith’, with his love for the natural world and self-sufficiency in the woods.
The Blue Castle sold very well in its day, from England to North America to Australia and in multiple languages. In 1982 it was adapted into a sold out musical comedy in Krakow Poland. A decade later it was made into a successful play in Canada, authored by Hank Stinson.
The Blue Castle: A Musical (2026) at the Leaksdale Church celebrating the 100th anniversary of the book. Photo Courtesy: Sesaya Arts Magazine
In 1939, the Roselawn Lodge where Maud stayed was bought by Fred and Mable Nation. in 1941 the main building of Roselawn Lodge burned to the ground, but the building next to it survived to this day. In 1974 it was taken over by their son Ed and his wife Beverly Nation. The family ran the lodge from 1939 to the 1990s. It now remains as a private cottage.
Roselawn Lodge, Bala's Museum
Bala residents Linda and Jack Hutton were lifelong fans of Anne of Green Gables, and when they heard that the former Tree Lawn Tourist Home faced possible demolition, they decided to buy the house in 1990 and restore it to a local museum. They opened it on July 24, 1992, and it became the first Lucy Maud Montgomery dedicated museum in Ontario.
Early days, 1992, Bala's Museum - History
Currently what it looks like as a world class museum, Bala's Museum - History
The exterior of the building brings to mind the original Green Gables farm while the interior maintains the integrity of the period when Maud visited Bala.
In 1998, the Huttons published a book called Lucy Maud Montgomery and Bala (1998), where they identify the locations that Maud used for the novel. “Deerwood” is the town of Bala. “Lake Mistawis” is Lake Muskoka. “Port Lawrence” is Gravenhurst, which at the time was home to the Muskoka Cottage Sanatorium for consumptives (tuberculosis), Canada’s first and North America’s third tuberculosis sanitarium in 1897.
Muskoka Cottage Sanatorium, 1910. Vintage Muskoka District/Facebook
In 2013, the Bala museum was designated as a historical site by the Township of Muskoka Lakes. In 2024, the Huttons received the Legacy Award from the L.M. Montgomery Institute in PEI for 32 years of "outstanding contributions to Mongomery scholarship". The mueum is home to many Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables artifacts, including Maud's silver tea set and the boat used in the Lily Maid scene in the Anne of Green Gables (1985) mini-series.
Silver tea set Maud received as a wedding gift
The boat Megan Follows rode in from Anne of Green Gables (1985)
Interestingly, there’s another link to Montgomery in Muskoka. The iconic Windermere House stood in for the original White Sands Hotel, in the Anne of Green Gables (1985) mini-series.
Windmere House
Screenshot from Anne of Green Gables (1985)
