After the slog that was Moby Dick, I needed healing, and so I turned to Mariana by Monica Dickens. Before I even get started on why this book was everything I needed and spectacularly written, let me list some of the things this book had going for it before I even read the first chapter:
- Monica Dickens is Charles Dickens' great-granddaughter. While being related to Charles Dickens does not mean you are going to be a great writer, it does mean that I'm going to hope you are.
- This book is published by a beautiful, amazing independent publisher Persephone Books. I don't remember exactly how I learned of this publisher, but all I know is I am obsessed with getting my hands on all of their books. As I said in my July Books, Persephone publishes forgotten and out-of-print books (mostly) by women. That is totally up my alley, as I am always looking to invest myself in things that celebrate women and everything they can do aka write amazing freakin' novels.
Okay, now on to the novel. Our protagonist is Mary: she is a bit petty, selfish, lazy, and craves independence. And I love her for all of those reasons. The novel opens with Mary as a young woman, hiding away at a house in Essex in the wake of the news that her husband, a British soldier fighting in WWII, may be dead. After the first chapter, we follow Mary's life, and the various events and relationships that have led her to this point.
This novel is so feminist. All of those characteristics I used before to describe Mary, which may make you think she is a terrible person, only help to show that she is a fully-formed character. Furthermore, Dickens is not only adept at showing Mary's motivations, such that we understand her and recognize her as a human being, but also adept at showing how the pressure of the culture Mary is in has shaped her. That is what makes this an amazing feminist novel, in which we see Mary constantly attempting to gain control of her sexuality and become independent, while deeply wanting to find a husband. We see Mary go through a couple of relationships that she hopes will bring her satisfaction, and give her the kind of romance she has been dreaming of, a romance that will steady her in some way, a romance that will consume her. I do not think it is wrong to want these things, but women especially are bred to want these things above everything else, that it is a woman's ultimate purpose to need a man and to marry him. This novel is largely Mary's struggle with this, though she doesn't fully comprehend this until the end of the novel.
This leads me to the incredibly satisfying and romantic end of the novel. Little bit of spoilers ahead. Reconciling the desire, as a woman, to be with a man with being independent comes to a head for Mary because she has found out that her husband might be dead. After several failed relationships, Mary marries Sam Howard. She is sure of him, in a way she was not with her other suitors. Between the two there is immediately a deep respect and affection. They are equals in ways Mary never was with her other suitors.
At the end of the novel, after we have followed Mary from a young girl to a young woman, we now come to find out whether Sam is dead. Mary is convinced that Sam is dead. She figures since she and Sam were as close as two people could be, that she could not be wrong about this feeling. And for a brief moment, she wonders if she wishes she were dead too, but decides no, 'You couldn't die. You had to go on. When you were born, you were given a trust of individuality that you were bound to preserve. It was precious. The things that happened in your life, however closely connected with other people, developed and strengthened that individuality. You became a person' (373).
What is so great about this quote is how 'trust of individuality' echoes a line from the first chapter which talks about why Mary has decided to seclude herself in the wake of her husband's potential death: '[Mary] wanted to brood; she did not want distraction. She wanted to fill the waiting-time with thoughts of him, and to keep herself aloof, as if she were holding herself in trust until he returned' (2). According to my good friend Wikipedia, trust, in the legal sense, 'is a relationship whereby property is held by one party for the benefit of another.' In the end, Mary finds herself, even though she had always thought she was just trying to find a man. In the end, Mary figures out that her experiences, her body, her thoughts, her feelings are for the benefit of herself, and not for a man.
__
I seriously loved this novel, and might write something else about it. Even though I finished the novel a week ago, I am still thinking about it and want everyone to read it.
This novel is so feminist. All of those characteristics I used before to describe Mary, which may make you think she is a terrible person, only help to show that she is a fully-formed character. Furthermore, Dickens is not only adept at showing Mary's motivations, such that we understand her and recognize her as a human being, but also adept at showing how the pressure of the culture Mary is in has shaped her. That is what makes this an amazing feminist novel, in which we see Mary constantly attempting to gain control of her sexuality and become independent, while deeply wanting to find a husband. We see Mary go through a couple of relationships that she hopes will bring her satisfaction, and give her the kind of romance she has been dreaming of, a romance that will steady her in some way, a romance that will consume her. I do not think it is wrong to want these things, but women especially are bred to want these things above everything else, that it is a woman's ultimate purpose to need a man and to marry him. This novel is largely Mary's struggle with this, though she doesn't fully comprehend this until the end of the novel.
This leads me to the incredibly satisfying and romantic end of the novel. Little bit of spoilers ahead. Reconciling the desire, as a woman, to be with a man with being independent comes to a head for Mary because she has found out that her husband might be dead. After several failed relationships, Mary marries Sam Howard. She is sure of him, in a way she was not with her other suitors. Between the two there is immediately a deep respect and affection. They are equals in ways Mary never was with her other suitors.
At the end of the novel, after we have followed Mary from a young girl to a young woman, we now come to find out whether Sam is dead. Mary is convinced that Sam is dead. She figures since she and Sam were as close as two people could be, that she could not be wrong about this feeling. And for a brief moment, she wonders if she wishes she were dead too, but decides no, 'You couldn't die. You had to go on. When you were born, you were given a trust of individuality that you were bound to preserve. It was precious. The things that happened in your life, however closely connected with other people, developed and strengthened that individuality. You became a person' (373).
What is so great about this quote is how 'trust of individuality' echoes a line from the first chapter which talks about why Mary has decided to seclude herself in the wake of her husband's potential death: '[Mary] wanted to brood; she did not want distraction. She wanted to fill the waiting-time with thoughts of him, and to keep herself aloof, as if she were holding herself in trust until he returned' (2). According to my good friend Wikipedia, trust, in the legal sense, 'is a relationship whereby property is held by one party for the benefit of another.' In the end, Mary finds herself, even though she had always thought she was just trying to find a man. In the end, Mary figures out that her experiences, her body, her thoughts, her feelings are for the benefit of herself, and not for a man.
__
I seriously loved this novel, and might write something else about it. Even though I finished the novel a week ago, I am still thinking about it and want everyone to read it.
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