*****
Psychologically disturbed woman commits one crime too many, ending up in a coerced marriage with a man who believes he can help her. The basis for Alfred Hitchcock's film but with a significant difference in emphasis: the book isn't about a man trying to tame a woman; it's about a woman discovering that she has a problem. Written with humor and élan, Marnie emerges as one of the great women of genre fiction. She's pathological yet utterly charming. Marnie's crimes, however, are only one manifestation of her mental condition. The other is her detestation of men. One leads to her marriage, the other threatens to destroy it. It all plays out against a tense backdrop of jealousy, frustration, and intrigue. Quite possibly the best book ever adapted by Hitchcock.
Psychologically disturbed woman commits one crime too many, ending up in a coerced marriage with a man who believes he can help her. The basis for Alfred Hitchcock's film but with a significant difference in emphasis: the book isn't about a man trying to tame a woman; it's about a woman discovering that she has a problem. Written with humor and élan, Marnie emerges as one of the great women of genre fiction. She's pathological yet utterly charming. Marnie's crimes, however, are only one manifestation of her mental condition. The other is her detestation of men. One leads to her marriage, the other threatens to destroy it. It all plays out against a tense backdrop of jealousy, frustration, and intrigue. Quite possibly the best book ever adapted by Hitchcock.