Persephone Books discussion

I thought I'd start the discussion off with a question that doesn't contain any spoilers, since I don't know how far people are on Mariana yet...
How did Mary change throughout the book? Did you like her?

Jean wrote: "Yes I think it was unconscious too. It also seemed to be more of a society snobism. Maybe hereditary too. It really irked me that almost everyone around her, her mother, and her uncle were target..."

My interpretation was that she was actually very close to her mother and her uncle. Did you mean she attacked them with snide remarks?

In my mind, they seemed like a close-knit family -- her uncle somewhat replacing her father who had died so young.

What I gathered from the book was that many of the characters were standouts -- her mother, the career-woman when she could have just been a war widow and accepted everyone's help. Her uncle, a character actor. After the book was over, you realized you had been introduced to some interesting characters and a collection of family, even though the main thread was about this girl and her love life.

I see what you are saying now Jean. Did you think of her as a passive person though? She really didn't move through life very directly and I think she described all these characters because they were forces she reacted against.

It was really almost too direct of an example when she followed that swine Denys off the ha-ha wall. Something she wouldn't have done by herself but reacting to him. Did anyone else have thoughts on this incident? I thought it really was just too telling of what was to come -- too much of a spoiler itself.

At first, I really didn't like Mary--especially her choice of Denys as a love interest. She did make some progress throughout the book. I agree with you, Elizabeth--I don't think she's someone I'd want to hang out with!
It seems like she just let things happen to her--or maybe it was that she didn't think things through well enough. Going to acting school was sort of an impulse, and she wasn't particularly interested in going to dress-making school either. When Pierre proposed to her, she convinced herself that she wanted to be married to him because it would have helped her mother and been convenient for her (Mary). It seems to me that she was the kind of person who believed she didn't have control over her life--things just happened and she had to go along with them.
It took her until the end of the book to really become herself. By the time she met Sam, she was mature enough to not visualize every man as a potential husband (pg 304). They were very well-suited to each other, and I really liked the ending! I thought it was going to be sad, but then it wasn't. :)
One more thing I wanted to mention...at the beginning of the book, Mary's uncle takes her out to dinner and he gives her alcohol and lets her go to a movie by herself (I think she was 8 at the time)--it's amazing how times have changed...that would not be acceptable now!

I, too, cannot say that I particularly LIKED Mary as a person, however she was a great character to follow. I admire Dickens for not making her exceptionally intelligent, kind, talented or beautiful. Until the end, her taste in men was terrible. These imperfections made her MUCH more realistic of a character than I was expecting, and I was pleasantly surprised.
I like that she grew wiser and more sympathetic as she got older...even in her misguided reasons for accepting Pierre's proposal, she genuinely wanted to help her mother with the bills (does the fact that she would basically be using Pierre negate this? Possibly.).
I will admit that each time she got her report card saying "Mary has a problem with authority," I liked her more. In the words of Mr. Grant, Mary "had spunk" (and I don't hate spunk)!
Does anyone know how this book was received upon its publication? I'm curious to know what demographic would be Monica Dickens' target audience for a novel like this...

I had read her novel about her experiences as a cook, which apparently was her first career and the one that got her out doing anything -- wasn't her own experience very much like Mary? Monica must have had a resurgence about 12 years ago because I think they book had just been released in paperback.

Imagine a girl of those times, very few of them got really formal educations, very few were welcomed into the business world -- they were still just floating -- so I bet her audience did appreciate the awkward Mary who was finding her way in life.

I have to say, there were things about this book I liked, but M. Dickens doesn't really grab me. I don't get drawn into her writing much. I guess because I love the thought of the English countryside (never been there), I loved her descriptions of the house Charbury. She was good at making me see a place.

Also, maybe because it is another interest of mine, but I noticed that the Shannon side of the family was "new money," they were very successful tradespeople, restaurant owners. I wonder by the 30's how these families really fit into the social scheme.

That is a good point, Sarah! I think because we're not living in the time this book was written, we do miss out on a lot of what made this book popular. I thought it was a charming book, but it isn't one of my favorites.
I would like to know more about the society at that time...now, it seems fairly common for a family to own a restaurant, but back then they were probably considered working class and therefore not accepted into higher levels of society.
I also liked what you wrote, Abby--I appreciate the fact that Mary was not a perfect character, but she did improve in time!

I didn't like Mary at first as I thought she was too passive, but she changed over the course of the book. When I think about it, I believe she is actually just a "normal person", a lot of us do that, too.