While I did not always like Marnie, it is very easy to feel sympathy for her – a lost girl who thought she had found someone to love her at last. Rattle gives her protagonists distinctive voices, with Marnie’s way of speaking echoed in her narration. The story is told in Marnie’s first person narration, interspersed with extracts from Noah’s journal. This is an emotional and tragic love story, with a convincing and detailed historical setting. Marnie is not defined by her disability, she is a strong, brave character who fights for what she believes in, no matter what the cost. Her characters, while not entirely likeable, are certainly memorable and have strong personalities. She becomes obsessed with him, and refuses to let anything stop their love.Īlison Rattle is an excellent historical writer and really captures the atmosphere of the fashionable bathing resort of 1868. However, what was a fun summer fling for Noah meant much more to Marnie. The two have a passionate secret love affair. Marnie is entranced by Noah’s sophistication and handsome looks, and he is intrigued by her mysterious charm and her connection to the sea. Her life seems dull and pointless, until the arrival of Noah de Clevedon. She is judged for her disability, and ostracised in her community. Marnie, a dipper’s daughter in the fashionable village of Clevedon where wealthy ladies come for the ‘sea-cure’, leads a lonely life.

The Quietness by Alison Rattle