The Blue Castle - L.M. Montgomery

If you've ever read Mansfield Park or Persuasion and found yourself longing for Fanny or Anne to snap back - just once! - at her awful relatives, do I have a book for you: The Blue Castle (1926) by L.M. Montgomery. After a health scare, Valancy Stirling - twenty-nine, confirmed spinster, smothered and intimidated - decides that she has one life to live and she's going to live it, thank you very much; she starts by speaking her mind and keeps going from there. I was able to predict most of the key plot points more or less immediately - ( spoilers )

- but it was a delightful, satisfying read.

Thanks to mrissa and osprey_archer for the recommendation!