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A review by flappermyrtle
Mariana by Monica Dickens
4.0
One way of describing Mariana would be that it is the epic tale of an ordinary girl. A girl, and later woman, like you and me, with dreams and hopes for the future that need to be altered constantly in order to fit into reality somehow. The novel features some heavy plot twists, several decisions that are life-changing and special events leading up to a clearer perspective on matters. What makes Mariana so readable, however, is not its plot - it's the moments inbetween major plot points, the depiction of every day life, of smouldering feelings, the description of relationships between the players in Mary's life. Mariana is simply delicious in its ordinariness; it's like a warm blanket, a whole world opening up for the reader to explore.
It is hard to pinpoint the exact element that makes Mariana such an enjoyable read. The characters are lovely, imperfect creatures trying their best at the lot life has given them. Mary's lovers all incite a different feel, different associations (not all good); despite scarce physical desciption you know quite well what Sam looks like, as well as the smooth Pierre. Monica Dickens does not treat major events as major, the narrative is a narrative as a whole, not a string of big happenings following one another. Her realism is on point, leaving the right amount of space for the reader to imagine things for oneself while providing enough detail to give the reader a good starting place for such musings.
Mariana is not an exciting novel, yet I nearly finished it in one day. Mary's life is comfortable to witness, showing good times and bad, and the only true suspense is whether her husband has survived the shipwreck Mary has read about or not - but by the end of the novel, such a thing would be quite as unimaginable to the reader as to Mary, so much has Sam become a part of the structure of the story and Mary's life. Mariana is a novel to leisurely read and revisit, not dashing but nonetheless thoroughly enjoyable.
It is hard to pinpoint the exact element that makes Mariana such an enjoyable read. The characters are lovely, imperfect creatures trying their best at the lot life has given them. Mary's lovers all incite a different feel, different associations (not all good); despite scarce physical desciption you know quite well what Sam looks like, as well as the smooth Pierre. Monica Dickens does not treat major events as major, the narrative is a narrative as a whole, not a string of big happenings following one another. Her realism is on point, leaving the right amount of space for the reader to imagine things for oneself while providing enough detail to give the reader a good starting place for such musings.
Mariana is not an exciting novel, yet I nearly finished it in one day. Mary's life is comfortable to witness, showing good times and bad, and the only true suspense is whether her husband has survived the shipwreck Mary has read about or not - but by the end of the novel, such a thing would be quite as unimaginable to the reader as to Mary, so much has Sam become a part of the structure of the story and Mary's life. Mariana is a novel to leisurely read and revisit, not dashing but nonetheless thoroughly enjoyable.