Joan G. Robinson - When Marnie Was There

First published in Great Britain by Collins in 1967

This edition published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2014

HarperCollins Children’s Books A division of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk

Text copyright © Joan G. Robinson 1967

Postscript copyright © Deborah Sheppard 2002

Illustrations by Peggy Fortnum

Cover illustration by Hamish Blakely

Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2014

Joan G. Robinson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

HarperCollins Publishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

Source ISBN: 9780007104772

Ebook Edition © MARCH 2014 ISBN: 9780007586868

Version: 2019-10-25

Cover

Title Page

Copyright First published in Great Britain by Collins in 1967 This edition published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2014 HarperCollins Children’s Books A division of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk Text copyright © Joan G. Robinson 1967 Postscript copyright © Deborah Sheppard 2002 Illustrations by Peggy Fortnum Cover illustration by Hamish Blakely Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2014 Joan G. Robinson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. HarperCollins Publishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication. Source ISBN: 9780007104772 Ebook Edition © MARCH 2014 ISBN: 9780007586868 Version: 2019-10-25

1. Anna

2. The Peggs

3. On the Staithe

4. The Old House

5. Anna Follows Her Fancy

6. “A Stiff, Plain Thing—”

7. “—and a Fat Pig”

8. Mrs Pegg’s Bingo Night

9. A Girl and a Boat

10. Pickled Samphire

11. Three Questions Each

12. Mrs Pegg Breaks Her Teapot

13. The Beggar Girl

14. After the Party

15. “Look Out for Me Again!”

16. Mushrooms and Secrets

17. The Luckiest Girl in the World

18. After Edward Came

19. The Windmill

20. Friends No More

21. Marnie in the Window

22. The Other Side of the House

23. The Chase

24. Caught!

25. The Lindsays

26. Scilla’s Secret

27. How Scilla Knew

28. The Book

29. Talking About Boats

30. A Letter from Mrs Preston

31. Mrs Preston Goes Out to Tea

32. A Confession

33. Miss Penelope Gill

34. Gillie Tells a Story

35. Whose Fault Was It?

36. The End of the Story

37. Goodbye to Wuntermenny

Postscript by Deborah Sheppard

Keep Reading

About the Author

About the Publisher

MRS PRESTON, WITH her usual worried look, straightened Anna’s hat.

“Be a good girl,” she said. “Have a nice time and – and – well, come back nice and brown and happy.” She put an arm round her and kissed her goodbye, trying to make her feel warm and safe and wanted.

But Anna could feel she was trying and wished she would not. It made a barrier between them so that it was impossible for her to say goodbye naturally, with the spontaneous hug and kiss that other children managed so easily, and that Mrs Preston would so much have liked. Instead she could only stand there stiffly by the open door of the carriage, with her case in her hand, hoping she looked ordinary and wishing the train would go.

Mrs Preston, seeing Anna’s ‘ordinary’ look – which in her own mind she thought of as her ‘wooden face’ – sighed and turned her attention to more practical things.

“You’ve got your big case on the rack and your comic’s in your mac pocket.” She fumbled in her handbag. “Here you are, dear. Some chocolate for the journey and a packet of paper hankies to wipe your mouth after.”