Editorial Content for Marion
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Reviewer (text)
Be prepared to buckle in for this review as I am about to heap loads of praise on Leah Rowan, who is making her debut with the terrific MARION.
Marion Crane is based on the character originally created by Robert Bloch in his immortal novel, PSYCHO, which later was made beyond immortal by Alfred Hitchcock in his film adaptation featuring the great Janet Leigh. The difference here is that Marion does not die at the hands of the demented, cross-dressing Norman Bates.
Marion is actually Emily Stockton, who was reported missing from her apartment in New York City. In reality, she escaped with $100,000 of stolen money that she was carrying as part of a desperate scheme to her help her sister, Lauren, escape an abusive marriage.
"Be prepared to buckle in for this review as I am about to heap loads of praise on Leah Rowan, who is making her debut with the terrific MARION."
Rowan takes the opportunity to reset the action in the year 2023, and the update is ideal for this storyline. The narrator first gets stuck in your memory by describing herself as “the kind of girl you swear you’ve seen before.” As she heads up north with her ill-gotten funds, her bus breaks down outside of the New Paltz area, and the good hotels are snatched up quickly. She begins making her way down the road to the Billings Motel before a friendly young cop stops to give her a lift there.
Once inside, Marion meets the awkward but somewhat appealing owner of the broken-down motel, who lives in the house just up the hill from it. After checking her in, Norm Billings invites her to join him for dinner before she turns in for the night. A dual narrative pops up, set a few months after these events, with a junior private investigator named Hannah Pierce, who is on the trail of a woman who disappeared after taking a bus upstate. Word on the street is that she may have run to Canada with stolen materials, but Hannah believes something else may have happened to her.
Meanwhile, Marion has an awkward meal with Norm, who spends most of the time talking about the gravely ill mother he cares for who is in a room she is not allowed to enter. Afterwards, while in the shower, she hears a sound only to find Norm there. He isn’t dressed as his mother, as in PSYCHO, but he wields a sharp butcher’s knife and tries to kill her. Marion turns the tables on him, first with a knee to the crotch and then by claiming the knife with which she stabs him to death.
Without giving too much away, this will not be the last victim of Marion’s rage, and she is on a dangerous path that eventually will connect with Hannah, who is extremely interested in what actually happened at the Billings Motel. Norm may have had mommy issues, but it is Marion who constantly hears her own mother speak to her inside her head.
This all drives MARION to realize its full potential as an incredible feminist revisionist piece of fiction that not only allows this iconic character to take control of her own destiny, but also deftly pays homage to the original character by reimagining what she could have been.
Teaser
Marion has stolen money from the Manhattan ad agency where she works in a desperate bid to help her sister escape an abusive marriage, but the bus breaks down before she can make it to Saratoga Springs. The only place with vacancies is an old set of cabins on the outskirts of town. She ends up chatting with Norm, the young innkeeper who's a touch hung-up on his elderly mother. Back in her room, she steps into the shower when the curtain is pulled back. Norm Billings is there with a knife. He raises his arm to strike, but before he does, Marion knees him, grabs the knife, and stabs the life out of him. Now she's covered in blood, and she's a woman on the run. Where will she go? How will she save both herself and her sister? And what mysteries will she uncover as she does?
Promo
Marion has stolen money from the Manhattan ad agency where she works in a desperate bid to help her sister escape an abusive marriage, but the bus breaks down before she can make it to Saratoga Springs. The only place with vacancies is an old set of cabins on the outskirts of town. She ends up chatting with Norm, the young innkeeper who's a touch hung-up on his elderly mother. Back in her room, she steps into the shower when the curtain is pulled back. Norm Billings is there with a knife. He raises his arm to strike, but before he does, Marion knees him, grabs the knife, and stabs the life out of him. Now she's covered in blood, and she's a woman on the run. Where will she go? How will she save both herself and her sister? And what mysteries will she uncover as she does?
About the Book
NORMAN WAS HER FIRST...
Marion is in deep. She's stolen money from the Manhattan ad agency where she works in a desperate bid to help her sister escape an abusive marriage, but the bus breaks down before she can make it to Saratoga Springs. It's late at night, and the only place with vacancies is an old set of cabins on the outskirts of town. She pays for a room in cash and ends up chatting with Norm, the young innkeeper who's handsome, charming and a touch hung-up on his elderly mother. Back in her room, she steps into the shower, scrubbing off the late-summer heat, when the curtain is pulled back.
Norm Billings is there with a knife. He raises his arm to strike, but before he does, Marion knees him, grabs the knife, and stabs the life out of him. Now, she's covered in blood, and she's a woman on the run --- not just a thief, but a killer, too. Where will she go? How will she save both herself and her sister? And what mysteries will she uncover as she does?
In Psycho, Hitchcock shocked audiences when he killed off his protagonist. But what if the leading lady had fought back? MARION offers an alternate history of the most famous dead blonde to ever grace the silver screen. Only this time, the knife is in her hands --- and she's no victim.
Audiobook available, read by Natalie Naudus and Tawny Platis
