Marlena

A Novel

By: Julie Buntin

Narrated by: Emma Galvin

An electric debut novel about love, addiction, and loss; the story of two girls and the feral year that will cost one her life and define the other's for decades.

Everything about 15-year-old Cat's new town in rural Michigan is lonely and off-kilter until she meets her neighbor, the manic, beautiful, pill-popping Marlena. Cat, inexperienced and desperate for connection, is quickly lured into Marlena's orbit by little more than an arched eyebrow and a shake of white-blond hair. As the two girls turn the untamed landscape of their desolate small town into a kind of playground, Cat catalogues a litany of firsts - first drink, first cigarette, first kiss - while Marlena's habits harden and calcify. Within the year Marlena is dead, drowned in six inches of icy water in the woods nearby.

Now, decades later, when a ghost from that pivotal year surfaces unexpectedly, Cat must try to forgive herself and move on, even as the memory of Marlena keeps her tangled in the past.

Alive with an urgent, unshakable tenderness, Julie Buntin's Marlena is an unforgettable look at the people who shape us beyond reason and the ways it might be possible to pull oneself back from the brink.

©2017 Julie Buntin (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

great story teller

I really enjoyed this book, it was very believable. The Audible reading was also excellent.

Not for casual listening

I mostly listen to books while at work; I have a fairly rote job that allows me to do so. I can mostly pay attention to what I'm listening to but of course will at times be paying more attention to my work and half-listening. The writing of this book was so beautiful that I had to wait to listen to it in the car on long thruway drives so that I didn't miss a word. The material was relatable to me in many ways, and coupled with the magical writing made for a listening experience that was deeply enjoyable.

A Brilliant, Agonizing Portrait of a Young Woman

When first listening, I thought I would not be able to relate to Buntin's characters because I am so far beyond (in years,) in trying to figure out my teen years and because Buntin's antagonist is much more into drugs than anyone I ever knew. That character would be Marlena, a vibrantly limned but frenetic young woman who befriends and is befriended by a new, younger, neighbor, Cat.

Marlena is on the road to destruction and because of recent family transformations in Cat's life, Cat is drawn into Marlena's orbit of uncentered living -- which has few boundaries but much potential for dissolution.

In short, this is a well written book (told from Cat's viewpoint,) about what it's like to grow into adulthood when your best friend is spiraling into oblivion... while you are simultaneously dealing with the trials which just about every teen girl confront's about self esteem, "coolness" and body image. Not to mention how to relate meaningfully to guys.

Buntin is a very skillful and talented writer. Cat becomes very real and her observations are fully fleshed out, three dimensional and bring all her relationships to life.

As far as being drawn into the book...It seems everyone has a "Marlena" of some sort in their maturing, early years. Someone who pushes boundaries and doesn't care about consequences but whose core of "self" is somehow either so protected and sealed away because of prior abuse that they never let you really "know" them -- or their real self has been damaged into emptiness and you never think you can know them for who they are.

But through your friendship, you grow to love them, despite feeling like they are always trapped beyond you, beneath glass or ice.

This is a well written portrait of two young women and it will grab you... I promise.

PS The narration by Emma Galvin is perfect.

Beautifully written

There is so much beautiful writing in this book: descriptive, catching feelings in words. Stream of consciousness is not my favorite style, however. I did not care for the performance by the reader - too flat. I wish I had read the book!

This book gets under your skin.

The honest longing for the lost in life: a friend, a time, a sense of self--all made this book resonate strongly with me.

The theme of immediacy--of recognizing the dangers, and even the love and goodness in life, in time to hold to us what is dear, speaks to all of us. I actually think that everyone has a story like this one.

Beautifully and forcefully read by Emma Galvin.

Stunningly Beautiful Writing

Marlena is so much more than a coming-of-age novel. From the beginning, I was swept into Cat's story of friendship, family, connection, guilt and loss. Julie Buntin's prose is pure beauty which would be worth listening to as poetry, even if the story weren't as compelling as this one is. Expect emotional complexity with moments of euphoria and heartbreak, as occurs in real life. Rarely am I compelled to buy the book version of an audiobook, but I will with Marlena so I can read and re-read it and will gift it to those whom I think will love it. Thank you for making this an Audible deal of the day.

Sounds like poems

I am not a typically a lover of poems. But while listening to this book, I repeatedly felt like the words were so well placed that it sounded poetic. This is a book that you will keep thinking about long after you've finished.

loved it

I loves this read. Great story line. Very sad but true. I was disappointed when it ended.

Don't stop

couldn't put down this story. look for it on audio and listen till the end

Interesting but depressing

This story really helped me to think about, and feel sympathy for rural teenagers and the drug problems they experience. Such crazy downward spiral lives. Nice to know escape is possible, though difficult.