A review by foggy_rosamund
Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr

4.0

Marianne discovers that she can manipulate her dreams by using a pencil she finds in her great-grandmother's sewing basket. Marianne is recovering from a long illness, and through her dreams she meets Mark, who has polio. As a child, I found this book frightening: the world Marianne discovers in her dreams is chilling and populated by malevolent figures. What struck me on this reread is the nuanced portrait of illness and disability, and the genuine fear that the children will not survive. It's an interesting take on recovery from illness and the way serious illness affects our way of thinking.