Marianne Dreams - Catherine Storr

'Marianne Dreams' is a book written for children by author Catherine Storr. It was first published in 1958. I first read it when I was eleven and re-discovered the reprinted paperback year 2000 version a few years ago. The book has become one of printing company Faber's 'Children's Classics' and quite rightly so. This is a story that once read permeates the mind and soul and remains there like a haunting ghost. It is a tale that is both disturbing and beautiful in equal measures. It is as if the author has tapped into our waking dreams or twisted reality with fantasy and created a brand new world where personal thought and feelings are master over everything ...  Read the complete review

Marianne is bored. She is recuperating from a nasty illness and her doctor has prescribed a lengthy period of bed rest. Her usually sunny disposition has disappeared and in its place has come boredom, irritability, frustration and that dreadfully debilitating kind of tiredness that comes from having done absolutely nothing for days and days and days and days and endless days. As a last resort to amuse her depressed daughter, Marianne's mother fetches her trinket box for Marianne to sort through and play with. Inside it, Marianne finds a pencil she cannot remember ever seeing before. It is an ordinary looking pencil; ...  Read the complete review

If you ever hear a book described as haunting- this should be the story that immediately springs to mind. I read this book first when I was twelve, but have returned to it many times since then. Marianne Dreams grabs you from the start, and provides by turns a touching story of first love, an insight into the life of an invalid child, and the feeling of vague discomfort and horror that only a true fairy story can provide. The main character, which is of course named Marianne, suffers an unnamed illness, which leaves her weak and convalescing. During this long, dull convalescence period, she creates for herself a dream world, with the assistance of an indelible ...  Read the complete review