I have mixed feelings about this novel. The prose was beautiful, the characters were beautiful. I didn't quite understand why it's categorized primarily as a romance novel, it's more a bildungsroman, but the beginning and end of the novel make it seem like it wants to be a romance novel. You go into the story not knowing who Mary's husband is, which would have been a great setup for a "who-is-she-going-to-choose?" situation.

We spent way too long following Mary's romance with Denys, way too long with Pierre, and not enough time with Sam. It felt as though I didn't really know Sam enough to care about his character, I only knew I was supposed to care about him, even though I didn't. Overall, I think I would give this a 3.5/5 stars. ( )

In the early part of World War II, Mary hears on the news that her husband's ship has gone down, with some casualties. Her phone line is down, and she has no way of getting news of him till morning, so she goes to bed and finds safety in thinking about something else... anything else. She begins to relive memories of her entire life... her childhood with her mother and uncle Geoffrey who is an actor, her idyllic days at her grandparents' home in the country, her first crush, her foray into dramatic school, her sojourn in France where she is swept off her feet by Pierre, and finally the moment when the puzzle pieces fall into place and she meets her future husband.
I had a little trouble with this book at the beginning because there was too much description and not enough dialogue for me, but that improved. But then I wasn't sure how much I liked it because, until near the end, Mary felt rather distant as a character. Towards the end, though, I really did like it quite a bit. I suspect it's just a matter of personal taste for the narration style. ( )

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Kate Harper

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Kate Harper's Reviews > Mariana
Mariana by Monica Dickens
Mariana
by Monica Dickens,
Harriet Lane (Goodreads Author) (Preface)

2130215
Kate Harper's review
Jan 23, 2020 · edit

it was amazing
bookshelves: england, read-in-2020

" 'I want to have my hair bobbed please,' she said in scarcely more than a whisper, to the girl behind the desk ... Mary went away and had a cup of tea and a rock cake. All round her women were eating ham teas. They nearly all had short hair. She wondered whether they had gone through these pangs before they bobbed it, or whether their husbands had laughingly clapped a basin over their heads one fine Putney day and run a pair of scissors round as casually as they would trim the garden hedge."

"Mariana describes a young girl's growth towards maturity in the 1930s. We see Mary at school in Kensington and on holiday in Somerset; her love for her cousin Denys; her attempt to go to drama school; her year in Paris learning dressmaking and getting engaged to the wrong man; her romance with Sam. Like Dusty Answer, I Capture the Castle and The Pursuit of Love, this is a novel about a girl encountering life and love which is also funny, readable and perceptive, and a marvellous description of a certain kind of English life at a certain moment in time."

Oh it was wonderful! Absolutely the quintessential slice of English life that I adore. All the characters are superb and believable, the description of life at Charbury, her grandparents house in Somerset, her trials and tribulation in school and drama school -- all are true-to-life glimpses into a life that was lost forever by the advent of WWII, but which is so fondly remembered here in this incredible book. ( )

This may be the loveliest opening to a novel that I have ever read.

“Mary sometimes heard people say: ‘I can’t bear to be alone.” She could never understand this. All her life she had needed the benison of occasional solitude, and she needed it now more than ever. If she could not be with the man she loved, then she would rather be by herself.”

It captured my own feelings perfectly, and expressed them more beautifully than I ever could.

Mary escaped to the country with just her small terrier dog, Bingo, in tow. Her husband was at sea, in the navy, and the country was at war. Because she wanted to be quiet, to remember, to think.

It was lovely watching Mary and Bingo settle in, lovely to be reminded of the depth of Monica Dickens’ understanding of character and of her talent for catching exactly the right details to paint a perfect picture.

I was particularly taken with her understanding that a terrier can be sound asleep and alert at the same time …

The peaceful scene was disturbed when Mary switched on the wireless, when she heard that her husband’s ship had been hit. There were survivors, there was hope, but Mary had a night to get through before she found out the next morning if her husband was alive or dead.

It was a sleepless night, and as she lay awake Mary turned over memories in her mind.

She remembered her childhood, with a mother who had been widowed in the last war and who worked as a dressmaker to support them. Her husband’s family would have helped but she didn’t want to be beholden to them. It was enough that they gave Mary lovely, idyllic summer holidays in the country. And a place in a bigger family.

She remembered going to drama school with grand plans, and coming to realise that she was on the wrong path. Fashion college in Paris was a much better idea. She could have a lovely time and she could play a part in the family business. Mary had a wonderful time in Paris, and she made a marvellous catch. But even the most marvellous catch is not necessarily the right catch.

Mary found her happy ending back in England, at the most unexpected moment.

Now it has to be said that Mary is not the most sympathetic of characters. She is often awkward, thoughtless, selfish even. But she was real, and for all her failing I did like her, I did want her to find her path in life, her place in the world. Sometimes fallible heroines are so much easier to love.

And Mary was real, alive, and her emotional journey was so utterly real. There were highs and lows, tears and laughter. Every emotion a young woman might go through. And so many incidents, so many moments to recollect.

All of this was observed so beautifully, with understanding, intelligence, and just the right amount of empathy.

But if Mary’s life was the foreground, the background was just as perfectly realised. Her world was as alive as she was, and every character who was part of that word, even if only for a short while, was caught perfectly.

I loved watching over Mary’s life. It was an ordinary life, but every ordinary life is unique and Monica Dickens highlighted that quite beautifully.

And I could have stayed in her world quite happily, but morning eventually came, and Mary had to face whatever news of her husband might come. And when it came I had to leave.

I’d love to know what happened in the next chapters of Mary’s life, but failing that I’ll go back and read about the years I know all over again one day. Because this is a lovely book, and a lovely way to get lost in another life and another world. ( )

Originally posted here

It was impressive for me to have finished this book considering I found it insufferably boring. The book opens with the main character Mary, it's during World War 2 and she has just found out that a military vessel has sunk and she has no idea whether her husband is one of the rescued or a casualty. It is the middle of the night and there just so happens to be a violent storm so the telephone lines are down and she has to wait until morning before she can find out anything. The story flashes back from that point to tell Mary's entire life story from childhood; I found the reading experience to be about as interesting as watching paint dry.

I do usually enjoy character driven plots but Mariana made me realise that I prefer the main character to go through some sort of hardship in order for it to be compelling to me. Mary experiences no hardship whatsoever, she maybe broke a nail one time or something equally ridiculous. There was nothing about her life that interested me in the slightest. Actually, her brief relationship with Pierre was probably the only part that I enjoyed and that was half a chapter.

There is a lot of cutting and bitchy commentary throughout the entire book, Mary is constantly judging other girls. She is harsh about their looks, weight, intelligence and even slut shames some poor girl because she had a passionate embrace with her fiancé on a bench at a party. I understand this book was originally published in 1940, but still - I guess some things never change. Mary's vitriol is even turned against herself as she buys a dress that is too small and then is full of self-loathing because one of the seams keeps popping open. Mary spends a good majority of the whole book just bemoaning at how fat she is. That is honestly as interesting as the story gets.

I found Mary to be self-absorbed, living in a privileged bubble, spoiled and vapid. She did not have a single interesting thought during the entire book. The other characters just blended into one and I really regret wasting my time struggling to finish it as it never redeemed itself. The biggest disappointment of the year so far. ( )