{"id":2938,"date":"2017-04-04T19:57:04","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T14:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fableandi.com\/?p=2938"},"modified":"2020-03-20T12:43:35","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T07:13:35","slug":"mariana-by-monica-dickens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/mariana-by-monica-dickens\/","title":{"rendered":"Mariana by Monica Dickens – a Pursuit of Happiness"},"content":{"rendered":"
Mariana<\/em> by Monica Dickens is a coming of age story set in England and a pursuit of love and happiness.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n My first tryst with Monica Dickens was when I happened to find a copy of One\u00a0Pair of Hands<\/em><\/a><\/span>\u00a0and the surname Dickens caught my eye. I remember smiling to myself thinking readers might think that she is related to Charles Dickens, later to get my facts straight that she is indeed the great grand daughter of Charles Dickens. I loved One\u00a0Pair of Hands\u00a0(<\/em>which made it to my list of favourite books of 2016<\/a><\/span>),\u00a0a semi autobiographical story of the time Monica worked as a cook. It gives an honest and extremely funny portrayal of the life \u2018upstairs and downstairs\u2019 in an English household.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mariana<\/em>, my second book by Monica Dickens, is a much loved book and perhaps the one she is quite famous for. It is a delightful and charming coming of age novel set in England in 1930s. I was expecting to read the story of Mariana, only to discover that our heroine is named Mary. Monica Dickens alludes to Tennyson\u2019s poem, both in the title of her book and at several instances in the novel. Once, Mary has to recite the poem Mariana<\/em> at drama school. Training in a drama school is a passionate dream she had for herself, until she realizes that she is not best suited for it. On another occasion, Mary waits impatiently in a house at Essex for her husband, anxious and in agony, like Tennyson\u2019s Mariana<\/em>.<\/p>\n