Marianne Dreams - Catherine Storr

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; ...

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 ...