Loveday Writing

Last year, I wrote a blog post about the passing of Australian author, John Marsden, and the influence he had (and still has) on me as a writer and how I fell in love with his work.

In the blog post, I wrote that I made the decision to read his books in order, and write about them. Therefore, this blog post will focus on Marsden’s debut novel, So Much to Tell You.

So Much to Tell You summary:

“I don’t know what I’m doing here. Well, I do really. It’s because I was getting nowhere at the hospital. I have been sent here to learn to talk again. Sent here because my mother can’t stand my silent presence at home. Sent here because of my face, I suppose. I don’t know.”

So Much to Tell You tells the story of 14-year-old, Marina, who records her thoughts in a journal given to her by her English teacher at Warrington Boarding School. When the novel (and her journal) begins, she is reluctant to write in it at all, but over time, she opens up in her journal (and to the audience); revealing who she is as a person, the subtle details of what has happened to her and her face, the bonds that she eventually builds with her roommates, and ultimately how she slowly starts to heal and move on from her emotional and mental trauma.

When asked where he got the idea for the novel, Marsden stated that he first attempted to write it in 1979 as a film script, and Marina was based on a girl he’d met in a Sydney Hospital ten years earlier. She was a fourteen year old who hadn’t spoken in eight months due to emotional trauma. Marsden also stated that to get into Marina’s mind, he used a newspaper cutting about a girl who had her face damaged, but had hoped that Marina was a metaphor for everyone, and wanted people to recognise themselves in her.

My thoughts on the novel:

I first read this novel in 2009 in one sitting and I loved it. I was drawn in by both the epistolary literary style via Marina’s journal, as well as how relatable Marina and the schoolgirls around her were. I even wrote a review of it in 2009, which can be read here.

I’ve read the novel a few times since and for this blog post, I re-read it again, in one sitting, and my feelings haven’t changed. I still love it, and feel it was a strong and powerful debut novel. Epistolary novels are getting harder to find these days and having the novel be epistolary style, due to the protagonist being given a journal to write in, was a good choice. It makes the novel and its style feel more natural and provides an authentic reading experience. 

Like I did in 2009, I highly recommend this novel for everyone to read.

The next John Marsden novel I will be reading and reviewing will be The Journey (1988).

Have you read So Much to Tell You? If so, what were your thoughts on it? Feel free to let me know by adding a comment below.