When Marnie Was There

By: Joan Robinson

Narrated by: Susan Duerden

When Marnie Was There is a gripping ghost story telling of Anna's strange encounter and friendship with a shadowy girl called Marnie among the wild and watery sand dunes of the Norfolk countryside. Is Marnie real? Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal when first published in 1967, this is a classic tale with truths to tell about friendship, loneliness and family.

One of Hayao Miyazaki's top 50 favorite books for children, When Marnie Was There, is coming to the big screen with an animated adaptation by his film company, Studio Ghibli, creators of Oscar-winning Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle and Arietty, based on Carnegie-winning novel, The Borrowers. This classic ghost story comes back into print to celebrate the film's release, bringing Anna's encounters with Marnie to a new generation of readers.

I’ve never related to a character so strongly.

Anna is my spirit animal. Amazing how such a simple story can resinate so steadfastly on an emotional level. I adore this book. And the narrator was excellent.

Wow

When Marnie Was There, has become one of my all time favorite books and I'm not much of a reader.

Singular

I dearly love this book. It is a wonderful story about some of the things I have the strongest affection for. It is also singularly effective at describing how one often feels in those tough transition years of childhood.

It was a lovely time spent listening

Anna is really struggling with the loss of her mother and grandmother after they died. She needs to learn to trust others and allow herself to be loved. This is a cute story which is well developed and exciting. I wanted more uninterrupted time to spend listening.

Worthwhile and a good family listen because the story flows well and narration is exceptional.

A lovely little story!!

It was so heartwarming! The narrator’s voice took a little time to get used to, but by the end I didn’t mind at all!