Marianne and Mark
Encyclopedia
Marianne and Mark by Catherine Storr
is a sequel to Marianne Dreams
(1958). It and continues the story of the eponymous characters. The novel has far less basis in fantasy than the first book with Storr focusing on the trials of growing up rather than magical happenings, although there is arguably a fantastic subtext in Marianne and Mark.
, where she recuperated from her illness at the end of Marianne Dreams
, when she was ten. Much to her disappointment she finds Brighton a lonely and boring place, and she tags along with local girls Alice and Josie despite having little in common with them.
One evening Josie's friend Billie tells the girls of a visit to a local fortune teller who apparently gives remarkably accurate readings. Reluctantly, Marianne joins the girls on a trip to the fortune teller and there she is astonished at how much the woman guesses about her life, including details of her illness five years ago. The fortune teller assures Marianne that she will not be lonely for much longer and that soon she will experience romance.
Spurred on by this Marianne accepts a date with a boy called Alan, whom she doesn't realise is Billie's former boyfriend. This inadvertent betrayal alienates Marianne from the few friends she had, and after Alan also deserts her she is left on her own. It is then that she meets Mark, a boy from London who, it transpires, is the same boy with whom she shared a tutor but never met in Marianne Dreams. The two enjoy the last few days of the holiday together and promise to meet again in London.
At a conference on children's literature, one respondent suggested that the novel was realistic rather than fantasy because of the needs of the novel form for older children, and that this is less successful than the earlier book. Storr's response was:
and Eastbourne
including: the West Pier and the Palace Pier
, West Street, North Street and East Street (the stationers Marianne visits on East Street is most likely based on a shop called Beals which was later converted into a clothes shop), Brighton Station
, Beachy Head
and Belle Tout lighthouse
.
Catherine Storr
Catherine Storr was an English children's writer, best known for her novel Marianne Dreams and for a series of books about a wolf ineptly pursuing a young girl, beginning with Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf.-Life:She was born in Kensington, London, one of three children of a barrister, Arthur...
is a sequel to Marianne Dreams
Marianne Dreams
Marianne Dreams is a children's fantasy novel by Catherine Storr.-Plot introduction:Marianne is a young girl who is bedridden with a long-term illness. She draws a picture to fill her time, and finds that she spends her dreams within the picture she has drawn...
(1958). It and continues the story of the eponymous characters. The novel has far less basis in fantasy than the first book with Storr focusing on the trials of growing up rather than magical happenings, although there is arguably a fantastic subtext in Marianne and Mark.
Plot
Now aged fifteen Marianne returns to BrightonBrighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, where she recuperated from her illness at the end of Marianne Dreams
Marianne Dreams
Marianne Dreams is a children's fantasy novel by Catherine Storr.-Plot introduction:Marianne is a young girl who is bedridden with a long-term illness. She draws a picture to fill her time, and finds that she spends her dreams within the picture she has drawn...
, when she was ten. Much to her disappointment she finds Brighton a lonely and boring place, and she tags along with local girls Alice and Josie despite having little in common with them.
One evening Josie's friend Billie tells the girls of a visit to a local fortune teller who apparently gives remarkably accurate readings. Reluctantly, Marianne joins the girls on a trip to the fortune teller and there she is astonished at how much the woman guesses about her life, including details of her illness five years ago. The fortune teller assures Marianne that she will not be lonely for much longer and that soon she will experience romance.
Spurred on by this Marianne accepts a date with a boy called Alan, whom she doesn't realise is Billie's former boyfriend. This inadvertent betrayal alienates Marianne from the few friends she had, and after Alan also deserts her she is left on her own. It is then that she meets Mark, a boy from London who, it transpires, is the same boy with whom she shared a tutor but never met in Marianne Dreams. The two enjoy the last few days of the holiday together and promise to meet again in London.
Themes
Unlike Marianne Dreams with its magical plot, the sequel focuses on character and emotion. There are however, a number of occasions which could be interpreted as supernatural, especially the fortune teller's knowledge of Marianne and her dream. It is left ambiguous as to whether Mark experienced the events of Marianne Dreams or if they were all only a dream of Marianne's. There are hints that it was more than just a dream as the fortune teller notes that Marianne's previous actions helped Mark, and later Mark takes Marianne to a lighthouse which looks exactly the same as the one from the dream, and he asks her if she remembers it. This could mean that the dream did happen to both of them or he could be simply commenting on the fact that both of them have in fact visited the spot before, in real life.At a conference on children's literature, one respondent suggested that the novel was realistic rather than fantasy because of the needs of the novel form for older children, and that this is less successful than the earlier book. Storr's response was:
Perhaps this didn't come off as well. … I wrote that because I'd always wanted to write on the Macbeth theme – if you are told that something is going to happen to you, you make it happen. That was what the book was supposed to be about and there is a very good example of using fantasy.
Setting
Most of the settings in the novel are real places in BrightonBrighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
and Eastbourne
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
including: the West Pier and the Palace Pier
Brighton Pier
The Brighton Marine Palace and Pier is a pleasure pier in Brighton, England. It is generally known as the Palace Pier for short, but has been informally renamed Brighton Pier since 2000 by its owners, the Noble Organisation, in an attempt to suggest that it is Brighton's only pier...
, West Street, North Street and East Street (the stationers Marianne visits on East Street is most likely based on a shop called Beals which was later converted into a clothes shop), Brighton Station
Brighton railway station
Brighton railway station is the principal railway station in the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. The station master is Mark Epsom...
, Beachy Head
Beachy Head
Beachy Head is a chalk headland on the south coast of England, close to the town of Eastbourne in the county of East Sussex, immediately east of the Seven Sisters. The cliff there is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, rising to 162 m above sea level. The peak allows views of the south...
and Belle Tout lighthouse
Belle Tout lighthouse
The Belle Tout lighthouse is a decommissioned lighthouse and British landmark located at Beachy Head, East Sussex. It has been called "Britain's most famous inhabited lighthouse" because of its striking location and use in film and television...
.