|
Loading... The Greatcoatby Helen Dunmore
None.  Ant.Harrison | Apr 28, 2013 |  The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore is a 'ghost story' set in the 1950s English countryside. It's told by Is, newly married to a young GP who finds an old RAF uniform greatcoat hidden away in a cupboard at the flat they are renting from the reclusive and enigmatic landlady, Mrs Atkinson. The coat transmits some kind of other-world energy to Is, who begins a love affair with its former owner. This short book has all the trademark Dunmore touches - slightly disconnected female protagonist, off-kilter relationships and a progressive disintegration of normality. In a way, her natural style lends itself to the creation of an atmosphere conducive to developing a ghost story. For me though, The Greatcoat just wasn't frightening enough (not that all ghost stories have to be frightening, although I think that's a must), and if it hadn't been billed as such, I wouldn't automatically of categorised it as one. The writing's up to Dunmore's usual high standard,and I didn't dislike the book, but I can't rave about its ghost story credentials. © Koplowitz 2013 (  ) Ant.Harrison | Apr 2, 2013 | This was not bad. It was very readable, but didn't really live up to my expectations, as it had come highly recommended. The concept was very good and so was the writing, but I never really felt the horror of the situation and it didn't work as a spooky romance either. I did like that my brain seemed to process it in black and white and directed by Hitchcock, the husband probably played by David Niven... yeah, maybe I'll read it again. Sometimes your mood can dictate how you read a story. ( ) h_d | Mar 31, 2013 | It's early 1950s and newly-married Isabel is settling down to married life with Philip, her doctor husband, in East Yorkshire. There's an abandoned wartime airfield nearby, which reminds her of the one near where she was living with her Aunt during the war and where she got to know the sounds of the Lancaster planes. Her new ground-floor flat is cold and lonely and the landlady living upstairs is constantly walking to and fro. She rummages the cupboards for any extra blankets and finds a RAF greatcoat and starts sleeping with that on top of covers. Then one night there is tapping on the window and an airman outside, and she starts hearing the rumble of the fighter planes. This was an atmospheric ghost story and I really enjoyed reading it. (  ) mari_reads | Mar 2, 2013 | Beautifully written ghost story set in 1950s rural England that centers around an RAF WWII greatcoat. This is my introduction to Helen Dunmore. I'm already looking for more titles. (  ) ken1952 | Feb 6, 2013 |
 The Greatcoat is more reminiscent of classic children's time-travel fiction, Tom's Midnight Garden or Charlotte Sometimes or Alison Uttley's Traveller in Time, than of Poe or MR James. Those books give an innocent generation ways of knowing historical trauma – perhaps the only preparation for the injustices of the present and the future – often using the possessions or dwellings of the dead as the key to time-travel, which is in itself a form of haunting. So too does The Greatcoat. We all know that young men die in war, and that they are brave and skilled and also frightened, and that women's lives are distorted by these deaths. Dunmore's gift, familiar from The Siege and The Betrayal, is to use a finely drawn domestic setting to show the great events of European history on a human scale. She doesn't need "horror" to spook her readers; our past is bad enough. But where this novel stands out is in its wonderful sketches of the utter creepiness of life in the Careys' dark little flat....Fans of Dunmore's Russian novels may struggle with this new direction. The Siege and The Betrayal were brilliant because they fleshed out the real, human details of huge, historical events. This novel adds an extra layer of unreality to fiction, and calls for a reader who is really willing to suspend disbelief. In that sense, it is a perfect ghost story, that will reward Hammer horror readers as well as open-minded Dunmore fans. This ghostly, literary war story could be the start of a beautiful friendship.
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0099564939, Hardcover)A terrifyingly atmospheric ghost story by the Orange-prize-winning Helen Dunmore.In the summer of 1954, newly wed Isabel Carey arrives in a Yorkshire town with her husband Philip. As a GP he spends much of his time working, while Isabel tries hard to adjust to the realities of married life. Life is not easy: she feels out-of-place and constantly judged by the people around her, so she spends much of her time alone. One cold winter night, Isabel finds an old RAF greatcoat in the back of a cupboard that she uses to help keep warm. Once wrapped in the coat she is beset by dreams. And not long afterwards, while her husband is out, she is startled to hear a knock at her window, and to meet for the first time the intense gaze of a young Air Force pilot, handsome, blond and blue-eyed, staring in at her from outside. His name is Alec, and his powerfully haunting presence both disturbs and excites Isabel. Her initial alarm soon fades, and they begin a delicious affair. But nothing could have prepared her for the truth about Alec's life, nor the impact it will have on her own marriage. (retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:48:53 -0500) In the summer of 1954, young wife, Isabel Carey, arrives in a Yorkshire town with her husband Philip. As a GP he spends much of his time working, while Isabel tries hard to adjust to the realities of married life. It isn't easy. |
 Google Books — Loading...RatingAverage: (3.26)
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia in English (1)
1
This short book has all the trademark Dunmore touches - slightly disconnected female protagonist, off-kilter relationships and a progressive disintegration of normality. In a way, her natural style lends itself to the creation of an atmosphere conducive to developing a ghost story. For me though, The Greatcoat just wasn't frightening enough (not that all ghost stories have to be frightening, although I think that's a must), and if it hadn't been billed as such, I wouldn't automatically of categorised it as one. The writing's up to Dunmore's usual high standard,and I didn't dislike the book, but I can't rave about its ghost story credentials.
© Koplowitz 2013 (