Reviews with content warning for Car accident - When Marnie Was There

"If she really got to know them, and they her, all that would be spoiled. They would be like all the others then - only half friendly. They, from inside, looking curiously at her, outside - expecting her to like what they liked, have what they had, do what they did. And when they found she didn't, hadn't, couldn't - or whatever it was that always cut her off from the rest - they would lose interest. If they then hated her it would have been better. But nobody did. They just lost interest, quite politely. So then she had to hate them. Not furiously, but coldly - looking ordinary all the time."

I discovered When Marnie Was There some time after having watched the eponymous adaptation by Studio Ghibli. The story of Anna, a depressed and lonely child, sent to the seaside and meeting her very first friend there, the mysterious Marnie, was incredibly touching- and I couldn't wait to see what the novel that inspired the movie had to offer.

The plot is mostly the same, aside from the fact that it takes place in England in the late 1960s. It's a quiet little story, mostly character-driven, and in some ways not a lot of things happen. There is a mystery to uncover, but for most of the story we follow Anna as she struggles with low self-worth and feeling like an outsider, before slowly blooming into a happier and more confident version of herself thanks to Marnie's friendship.

This novel touched me in a way few other have, all thanks to the way Anna and her inner world are portrayed. Joan G. Robinson writes with a lot of kindness and love, never sugarcoating the bad things Anna does and thinks, but also never writing about them with harshness. This novel feels like a love letter to every child who ever felt alone and unworthy of friendship - which makes this story all the more special and dear to my heart.

Although I prefer the novel, I greatly recommend watching the Ghibli movie as well. The novel makes you empathize with Anna in a way only good novels can, provides incredibly immersive descriptions, and feels all around homely and warm; while the animated feature, aside from being stunning, modernizes the characters' interactions and creates a superbly emotional rendition of Marnie's backstory.

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