Book Review - 'When Marnie Was There' by Joan G. Robinson

2023 REREAD: I was surprised by the shocking number of typos in this classic novel. But 'When Marnie Was There' is such a lovely and emotional story, that will touch and resonate with so many people throughout generations, that I can't care about those details. It's original, heartwarming, haunting, and sweet. It is a great holiday read, too.

Final Score: 3.5/5





Original Review:



I love the Studio Ghibli film (and I'd recently been binging Ghibli films), so I had to look into the original source material - a British children's classic.

I think I might love 'When Marnie Was There' with all my heart. I'm surprised I'd never heard of the book before the anime film adaptation. It is a criminally underrated gem from the sixties. It is about childhood and memories; isolation and how often loneliness is misunderstood (especially in children); being on the "inside" and the "outside" of society, and how "outsiders", or "misfits", can feel like they were born defective somehow; depression and the need for loving support from friends and family (found families - blood relations don't matter so much - another important message for the youth!); and finding belonging in the most unexpected places.

I love the English countryside setting, as well. I want to visit Little Overton, in Norfolk; and this staithe, this creek, this marsh, this beach, and these sand dunes, reeds, grasses, and tide pools. And The Marsh House, which is a character in its own right. It is like an old, old, mysterious friend.

The big, ancient house is beautiful and enticing. It's like a ghost.

It's like Marnie. Little, pretty, playful, rich Marnie; she in the white nightie, and with a deeply troubled home life.

The girl and the house, lost and lonely souls like our protagonist Anna, are connected. Less in spirit and more in memory...

On noting the setting, I don't think I've ever even seen sea lavender!

I'd even like to visit the creepy windmill!

The lovely story portrays childhood alienation and depression so well. I think many children, and many adults, including myself, can relate to the turmoil - and imagination emerged out of loneliness - of young Anna.

Anna isn't made to feel like she is normal, or is doing things right, or that she even matters to the people around her that much. This concern about being unwanted stems from her being an adopted foster child, as well as her perceived apathy, gloominess, and "ordinary face". Often, adults and children on the "inside" do not understand Anna, and why she is the way she is, which could have more to do with external reasons than internal ones. They may not want to try hard enough to recognise her suffering, let alone genuinely help her. It's a testament to how the majority of people living in a climate of capitalism, and forced happiness, contentment, complicity and denial, don't know how depression - example: emptiness, thinking about and doing nothing - actually works.

With the right people - real people, not just mysterious figments and phantoms - around Anna, who will love her for who she is, care for her, and understand what will make her happy, she can shake out of her sullen, moody shell, and embrace that love, that sunshine, that acceptance.

As with everything in life, friendships are not permanent. They can be as fleeting and retreating as the tides. But there is always a brightness, a warmth, at the end of every dark, sobbing, uncertain and vague tunnel.

Sorry for this haphazard review that cannot possibly do this novel justice. It's only me and my own stream-of-consciousness thoughts, meant to reflect the dreamlike, ethereal, whimsical and introspective content in 'Marnie'.

'When Marnie Was There' is just a beautiful, sweet, haunting story, all around. Almost magical, yet so personal. Sad yet hopeful. Fateful and faithful. It's original and transcendent in its storytelling, that can be enjoyed, appreciated and understood by readers of all ages.

The characters are also unforgettable.

What an experience.

Final Score: 4/5