Life for Valancy Stirling is bleak and hopeless. For twenty-nine years, she's had little to live for and nothing to look forward to. At the mercy of her large, meddlesome family, she's endured quips and ridicule of every kind for far too long. The only consolation Valancy finds is in the books of John Foster and her daydreams of the Blue Castle, a place where she can have the life she wants instead of the one she's trapped in. It isn't until Valancy receives a devastating diagnosis from the local doctor that she finally finds the courage to take charge of her life. But even she doesn't know how much that one little choice will change everything forever.