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lizandherworldofbooks's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Antisemitism
ohnoflora's review
4.0
This really is a hot water bottle of a book - comforting and nostalgic but saved from being sentimental by having a wry, sharp streak that cuts through the cosyness. I don't think it's a classic in the way that I Capture the Castle or Love in a Cold Climate is and although the seediness of the demi-monde of 1930s London is touched on, Monica Dickens doesn't brave the depths that Jean Rhys does in novels like Voyage in the Dark...however, it is extremely enjoyable, full of wit and a book that I can see myself returning to.
elbaker's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
we_are_all_mad_here26's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this well enough for what it was - what it wasn't, however, makes me glad that I'm finished with it.
The first half or so dragged - Mary struck me as entirely incapable of thought or reflection and mostly void of personality. It was only when we reached her dramatic exit from drama school that she began to show some character. Not quite enough for me. But some.
The story did pick up a bit as Mary got older, and the humor didn't hurt, when it cropped up. The ending was nearly perfect though.
This is the second book Persephone published, and the eleventh that I've read.
The first half or so dragged - Mary struck me as entirely incapable of thought or reflection and mostly void of personality. It was only when we reached her dramatic exit from drama school that she began to show some character. Not quite enough for me. But some.
The story did pick up a bit as Mary got older, and the humor didn't hurt, when it cropped up. The ending was nearly perfect though.
This is the second book Persephone published, and the eleventh that I've read.
andrew61's review
4.0
I suspect that how much I like a book very much depends upon where I am in a reading cycle. So after some demanding reads recently I picked this up for a physical reading group read and seeing that it was a story of a young middle class woman's life between the wars as she develops from a tomboyish child in love with her cousin to a woman in her late 20's getting married and thought that it was unlikely to be something I would enjoy. But I really fell into the story and was totally absorbed by the travails of Mary from her jumping from a ha ha at the encouragement of the cousin, to school girl friendships, from fox hunting to drama school, from a Paris fashion house to misunderstandings and romances. Plenty of characters who could have come straight out of a black and white thirties sunday afternoon film who generally would drive me to distraction but perhaps that was the joy of the book and in the end I couldn't put it down and was totally lost in the world.
Definitely a book to make you smile but whether on another day I'd feel the same , who knows?
Definitely a book to make you smile but whether on another day I'd feel the same , who knows?
cosycourtney's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was a really fun & surprisingly easy read. It’s natural to fear that something from 1940 would be difficult to digest but Mariana was easy to read and highly entertaining. Some parts did drag on a little but it was mostly juicy and engaging. It just goes to show, no matter how much time passes the pattern that come with being a woman don’t change all that much; and I found that comforting. Mary’s pursuit for love was quite lovely and to be honest I think this book was probably very ahead with which a headstrong main character. If I came across another Monica Dickens book in the wild I’d definitely have no hesitation picking it up!
merrymango's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Antisemitism
paula_s's review against another edition
5.0
Esta es una de esas lecturas que dan calorcito al corazón, 'Mariana' hace referencia a un poema de Tennyson del mismo título en el que Mariana se siente morir porque su corazón le dice que su amor nunca volverá:
Upon the lonely moated grange.
She only said, "My life is dreary,
He cometh not," she said;
She said, "I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!"
Y algo de eso hay en el libro de Monica Dickens, que te deja los tres últimos capítulos con el corazón en un puño por Mary, sufriendo y temiendo literalmente hasta la última línea. Mary desespera en la tormenta y recuerda su vida desde que era niña hasta el momento en que comienza el libro, en un círculo que cierra con esperanza, nos habla de sus vacaciones en casa de los abuelos, de la lucha constante de su madre viuda de una guerra, de su poco destacable paso por las escuelas, de su affaire con un rico parisino, de desilusiones, de esperanzas, de amor por la familia a pesar de sus defectos. 'Mariana' es un libro que se ancla al alma y se queda para siempre.
kchessrice's review against another edition
5.0
"It seemed that one had little control over one's own destiny. All one could do was to get on with the one job that nobody else could do, the job of being oneself."
Mariana is the story of Mary, a young English school-girl and we follow her coming of age through balmy summer days spent with cousins at their grandparents' country home, to navigating school and friendships with other girls before falling in love with unsuitable young men (and finding Mr Right!).
This was another 5* selection for the #QuietClassics2022 reading list! I absolutely adored the writing - in some ways of its time (written in the late 1930s) so full of steam trains, Lyons tea shops and making calls in telephone boxes, yet in others feeling absolutely contemporary. Dickens writes so well to encapsulate the feelings of being an adolescent girl emerging into adulthood that it felt as though Mary was a friend, recounting her experiences to me, and me nodding along saying, "Yes, me too!" all the way. The second chapter describes the journey taken by Mary and her mother from London to the grandparents' house in the Somerset countryside, and it evoked for me long forgotten memories of being in the back of my parents' car, travelling to visit my aunt and uncle for a weekend, where me and my sister would play secret games with our cousins that only we knew the rules to (mostly involving 'locking' my sister in a cupboard, perils of being the youngest) and the days being seemingly always sunny and never ending.
I liked how Dickens captured various small moments but notices how they can have big impacts on a person - the first time that Mary has to work out how to get home on the Tube by herself at the age of 10 (at night!); Mary's excruciating humiliation of discovering on stage that she's a terrible actor - but also that delightful feeling of falling in love and wondering if the person you like, likes you back ("He had noticed her eyes! ... He had been interested enough in them to think that they sometimes changed colour. He had remembered them.")
The thing I liked best was the sense of humour that runs all through Mariana. I laughed at this passage:
"Mary didn't mind at all about not being clever. Some of the girls at Manton House were, as Mrs Linney said of Aunt Winifred, 'not quite the thing,' and Cicely Barnard couldn't even write her own name and was not allowed to lock the door of the lavatory."
I just adored this book and can't wait to read it again. Highly recommend to fans of Mollie Panter-Downes.
Mariana is the story of Mary, a young English school-girl and we follow her coming of age through balmy summer days spent with cousins at their grandparents' country home, to navigating school and friendships with other girls before falling in love with unsuitable young men (and finding Mr Right!).
This was another 5* selection for the #QuietClassics2022 reading list! I absolutely adored the writing - in some ways of its time (written in the late 1930s) so full of steam trains, Lyons tea shops and making calls in telephone boxes, yet in others feeling absolutely contemporary. Dickens writes so well to encapsulate the feelings of being an adolescent girl emerging into adulthood that it felt as though Mary was a friend, recounting her experiences to me, and me nodding along saying, "Yes, me too!" all the way. The second chapter describes the journey taken by Mary and her mother from London to the grandparents' house in the Somerset countryside, and it evoked for me long forgotten memories of being in the back of my parents' car, travelling to visit my aunt and uncle for a weekend, where me and my sister would play secret games with our cousins that only we knew the rules to (mostly involving 'locking' my sister in a cupboard, perils of being the youngest) and the days being seemingly always sunny and never ending.
I liked how Dickens captured various small moments but notices how they can have big impacts on a person - the first time that Mary has to work out how to get home on the Tube by herself at the age of 10 (at night!); Mary's excruciating humiliation of discovering on stage that she's a terrible actor - but also that delightful feeling of falling in love and wondering if the person you like, likes you back ("He had noticed her eyes! ... He had been interested enough in them to think that they sometimes changed colour. He had remembered them.")
The thing I liked best was the sense of humour that runs all through Mariana. I laughed at this passage:
"Mary didn't mind at all about not being clever. Some of the girls at Manton House were, as Mrs Linney said of Aunt Winifred, 'not quite the thing,' and Cicely Barnard couldn't even write her own name and was not allowed to lock the door of the lavatory."
I just adored this book and can't wait to read it again. Highly recommend to fans of Mollie Panter-Downes.
jessicah95's review against another edition
5.0
Oh, I just loved this! Ordered 'The Winds of Heaven' by Monica Dickens straight after reading this. Maybe i'll be able to get my thoughts together and write a full review soon. But for now - undoubtedly, a new favourite.