“Funny and poignant. . . . This book is written with verve and exuberance.”—The Sunday Telegraph
Monica Dickens, the great granddaughter of Charles Dickens, published Mariana in 1940 when she was only twenty-four years old. A bestseller in its time, Mariana is the often-comical story of a typical English girl growing up in the 1930s.
A lively young woman who has no idea what to do with her life, Mary is often at loose but happy ends: going to school and vacationing in Kensington; a hilarious failed attempt at drama school; a year in Paris learning dressmaking and getting engaged to the wrong man; and finally her romance with the right man.
They nearly all had short hair. She wondered whether they had gone through these pangs before they bobbed it, or whether their husbands had laughingly clapped a basin over their heads one fine Putney day and run a pair of scissors round as casually as they would trim a garden hedge.
Monica Dickens was born in London in 1915. Her father was Henry Charles Dickens, the eighth son of Charles Dickens. She was an active humanitarian and is the author of numerous novels and children’s books. Despite her privileged upbringing, Dickens volunteered in the service and worked in an aircraft factory repairing Spitfire fighters. This, and her work as a cook and servant, informed much of her writing.
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Book Description PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # C3-9781906462048
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. This is a funny, intensely readable 'hotwater bottle' which is a great Persephone favourite.This 1940 novel is the touching and often extremely funny story of a young English girl's growth towards maturity in the 1930s. We see her at school, on holiday in Somerset, her attempt at drama school, her year in Paris learning dressmaking and getting engaged to the wrong man, and finally the arrival of Mr Right. A novel about a young English girl's growth towards maturity in the 1930s. We see her at school, on holiday in Somerset, her attempt at drama school, her year in Paris learning dressmaking and getting engaged to the wrong man, and finally the arrival of Mr Right. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781906462048
Book Description Softcover. Condition: New. Monica Dickens's first book, published in 1940, could easily have been called Mariana - an Englishwoman. For that is what it is: the story of a young English girl's growth towards maturity in the 1930s. We see Mary at school in Kensington and on holiday in Somerset; her attempt at drama school; her year in Paris learning dressmaking and getting engaged to the wrong man; her time as a secretary and companion; and her romance with Sam. We chose this book because we wanted to publish a novel like Dusty Answer, I Capture the Castle or The Pursuit of Love, about a girl encountering life and love, which is also funny, readable and perceptive; it is a 'hot-water bottle' novel, one to curl up with on the sofa on a wet Sunday afternoon. But it is more than this. As Harriet Lane remarks in her Preface: 'It is Mariana's artlessness, its enthusiasm, its attention to tiny, telling domestic detail that makes it so appealing to modern readers.' Seller Inventory # DADAX1906462046
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 6499410
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 377 pages. 7.32x5.43x1.34 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __1906462046
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard1906462046
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think1906462046