I decided to make more of an effort to participate in Novellas in November this year, more than accidentally reviewing a novella in November, that is, so I started looking at lists. When I first went for classic novellas, I was finding the same kinds of things, many of which I considered novels, not novellas, so I just tried search for novellas in general. I finally found this intriguing list on Literary Hub, the 50 Best Contemporary Novels Less Than 200 Pages. I picked out a few books from it, most of which I was unfamiliar with.
The quotes on the back of this very short book (101 pages) use words like “chilling” and “terrifying.” I was nearly halfway through it feeling that it was a little strange but certainly not terrifying. So, I did a little looking around, as I sometimes do when I feel like I’m not quite with it. That led me to find out something I wish I didn’t know ahead of time. So, don’t do this! If you choose to read the novel, you’ll find it out in the Afterword.
Marina’s parents died after a car accident. She herself was badly injured and hospitalized for some time. At seven years old with no relatives, she is placed in an orphanage. The other girls, whose point of view is represented as a group, love and are repelled by her, so they make her an outcast. And there is something odd about her. When anyone asks her about her family, she uses the same words, with no affect.
Marina’s only possession besides an odd selection of clothes from her house is a doll the psychologist gave her. Marina, rejected, plays constantly with the doll. Eventually, the other girls steal, destroy, and bury it.
These descriptions sound a little odd, but what is very unusual is the way the unspoken thoughts of the children are expressed in the text. It’s lyrical, and as I mentioned before, the other girls are treated as one. References in reviews speak of a Greek chorus, but to me it seemed stranger than that.
I’m not going to say more about this except that the events and aura of the novel become stranger as it goes on. If you are interested, you most likely won’t be disappointed. And what the heck! It’s only 100 pages long. Read it!
What? Me Read? 