When Marnie Was There

Book Title: When Marnie Was There

Author: Joan G. Robinson

Date Started: June 21st 2016

Date Completed: July 23rd 2016

Genres: Contemporary
Quality Rating: Three Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Three Star

Final Rating: Three stars

Review:

Though I don't usually pick my books for the season, I can see When Marnie Was There being the perfect relaxed summer read for younger audiences: a gentle, heartfelt story with little flairs of adventure. If I was younger I think I would've loved his book, but right now it was a little too gentle for my tastes.

The main thing that stuck out for me in this book was the representation of depression at a time when it wasn't acceptable to experience it. The book was published in the 60s and while there was a vague awareness of what mental health was, it wasn't really okay to exhibit the symptoms or consequences. Yet Robinson shows Anna's depression and the reactions other people have to it with surprising accuracy, and through a child narrator without being patronising. I think the simplicity with which the author talks about Anna's feelings and behaviour without needing to explain at great lengths what's happening is a big part of its effect - depression isn't a word mentioned at any point, understandably, but it's clear that this is what Anna is experiencing. Furthermore, for a younger audience I think it does a really good job of just showing these kinds of emotions, which in itself is a rare thing.

I keep saying it, but I would've loved this book as a kid, because it ties in all my favourite parts of good old fashioned adventure (the impromptu meetings, secret little alcoves in mysterious buildings, peculiar children that seem to appear from nowhere), with some magical elements as well. You can discuss whether the main enigma of the story is magical realism, hallucinations or pure fantasy until the cows come home, but for me I didn't even mind - I just loved reading about it anyway. Of course, these days it did get to me a little bit that the resolutions and explanations for these little mysteries were honestly a bit of a mess by the end, but had I read this a few years ago I wouldn't have been able to put it down. In fact this book just reminds me of my childhood, and while that's great for nostalgia, it wasn't quite what I was looking for in a story.

Apart from Anna and her mental health, I do have to say the rest of the characters are generally unremarkable, but they fit nicely into that old fashioned style of characters that each have their own little adventurous twist; I kept being reminded of The Famous Five, or Swallows and Amazons. Overall it does seem like everyone else is around to take Anna through her transformation, which is fine but there was a part of me that wanted a little more to distinguish between each character.

When Marnie Was There is slow and sweet. For me personally it was a little too slow and sweet - especially to read in between my usual tastes - but it would be a gentle summer pick for readers a little younger than me.

I would have loved When Marnie Was There when I was younger, and even now it was a nice summer read, but I didn't come out of it with anything anymore. However, for younger readers I think this book would very accessible and engaging - I honestly wish I'd had it when I had a summer holiday in Norfolk.

Image Source - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23019010-when-marnie-was-there