The Ghost Writer

Wow, okay, so once I finally sat down to read this book it got so much better. This novel takes a little concentration. The main story concerns Gerard, a sort of sad sack Australian librarian who spends most of his life under the confining care of his mother who becomes mysteriously overbearing after the narrator, at age ten, finds a photograph and a letter locked away in his mother's vanity. Coincidentally, that was the same year Alice, his pen pal and, over time, "invisible lover" begins corresponding from England. This story is taken up mostly with Gerard trying to figure out a way to be with Alice, even though both his mother and Alice, herself, are resistant.

Throughout his journey to unite with Alice, Gerard comes across show more Gothic-style horror stories written by his Grandmother. These stories are really quite something and alone are worth reading the book. They are creepy and strange and just delightful.

This novel is really interesting in that it is good, not great for about the first 200 pages. Then beginning in the last 100 pages, it ramps up into "oh my, I have to keep reading this, I don't care what time it is." Then, in the last 5 pages, it kind of loses it. I'm still wondering if maybe I missed something. All told, I'm glad I read 'The Seance' by Harwood first. I loved that story, and I'm not sure I would have read it if I had started with this one. That said, I'm glad I read this one if for nothing else than those fantastic little horror stories. show less

This book was exceedingly creepy. The protagonist is a boy who's mother used to tell him wonderful stories about her childhood until one day she simply stopped. He attempts to piece together his mother's past, and of course uncovers creepy, creepy stuff. It's got a very interesting presentation - the story is told in a normal fist-person narrative, but is also interspersed with letters, diary entries, and a number of ghost stories. The ghost stories compliment and imitate life (or maybe it's the other way around), and it winds together in a very interesting and vaguely horrifying way. Honestly, my skin is still creeping a bit. It's a very good book, but I don't recommend reading it after dark.

A boy in Australia struggles under the rule of his overprotective mother but finds an outlet for his feelings in his penpal in England. As his relationship with his penpal becomes more serious through the years, his relationship with his mother becomes even more strained. When she dies, he is determined both to meet his love face-to-face and also to solve the mysteries in his mother's past. However, he's not prepared for how the two parts of his life are unexpectedly joined.
This is a strange but cool novel involving stories within stories, mysteries on every level, and a perfectly creepy gothic feel throughout. I'm still not completely clear on how some of the embedded stories relate to the whole, but overall it's a great read.

This is a wonderful atmospheric book, reminiscent of Victorian/Gothic ghost stories. It's the story of Gerard Freeman, who grew up in Australia being told stories by his mother of her girlhood at a house called Staplefield in England. After his mother dies, he begins to start unraveling the maze of her girlhood in England and what happened in that old rambling house. We're also treated to stories written by Gerard's great-grandmother, Violet. Wonderful Victorian ghost stories. I adore stories within a story, so that was much fun for me. The book also brought back the dreams I had as a little girl--the daydream/wish that someday I'd find I inherited an old house in England, complete with ghosts. I alway did have an odd imagination. What show more really shocked me about this book, though, was the fact that I wasn't trying to figure out the whodunnit bits--I was so wrapped up in the atmosphere of the book that I just didn't care. I didn't want to know until the end. show less

Cleverly written and very twisty plotting. However, I was not so enthralled with the story. Mind you, I totally went outside my comfort zone in reading a gothic-paranormal romance theme. I found the writing was clever and well-crafted. But the interleaving story structure with several manuscripts from one of the supporting character's collection of novels distracted me.

These episodic tales seemed to be unrelated to the plot and I couldn't reconcile their inclusion at all. The entire plot developed in a weirdly convoluted way. The ending seemed to just drop off a cliff. I think I was rather lost a few times in the twists. Not to imply another person wouldn't like the book, but verging on gothic-thriller, it is difficult to recommend.

You know that book you have to carry with you and read as you walk around your house, bumping your shins on coffee tables? That book you can't tear your eyes away from while eating so you accidentally dump lasagna down your chin, and you don't really care? The Ghost Writer is that kind of book. I read incessantly, stopping only for work, sleep, and any other sort of thing that gets in the way of finishing a great book.

All the elements are here: This book is a creepily Gothic, cozily Victorian story within a story, including one of the most frightening scenes ever to take place in a library. It all begins when Gerard finds a ghost story written by his grandmother Viola while snooping through his mother's room. Interspersed throughout show more Gerard's narrative set in present time are Viola's short stories, which I found to be my favorite part of the book.

Then, I reached the ending. I won't write anything spoiler-ish here for those of you who haven't read the book, because I think you will enjoy it immensely. I just don't think Harwood quite knew how to finish the dang thing. Regardless, I can't wait to read Harwood's next one, The Seance. show less

There is a small cadre of recent novelists whose debuts were so spectacular that I await their second (and third, etc.) books with great expectations. Zafon is one of them. John Harwood is another. This was meant to be a review of his second novel, The Seance, recently released. I read The Seance and was happy with it but then felt compelled to reread The Ghost Writer, his first. I was only two chapters back into Ghost Writer when I realized The Seance did not live up to its promise. One of my tests for a good story is if I have trouble setting the book aside. I can't do it with Ghost Writer but I had no trouble with Seance.

Both books deal with the occult to some extent. The Seance obviously involves a seance - actually there are show more several of them in the story. The title seance is the one that didn't actually happen. It is set at the end of the Victorian era and feels quite authentic in setting, mores and science. It is a good novel. The Ghost Writer is a far better one. Harwood's debut is the story of Gerard Freeman, at the beginning of the story a 13 year old boy living in a small Australian town. Gerard has grown up listening to his mother's stories of her childhood in England. After a major transgression of Gerard's she stops talking of England and Gerard is afraid to bring it up. His childhood is overshadowed by his mother's overwhelming concern for his safety which makes him a lonely child.

Gerard receives a missive from a penfriend charity asking if he would like one and he agrees. Upon noting the first letter, Gerard's mother insists she have it and, until the intervention of his father, it looks like his friendship will be nipped in the bud. But it isn't. In fact it continues for twenty years. His writing friend is a girl named Alice, about his age, who is confined to a wheelchair. As the years pass and Gerard begs for a meeting Alice puts him off with the hope that she will meet him only when she can walk again.

During those years Gerard comes across several ghost stories written by his great-grandmother Viola. These stories stand alone as excellent examples of the genre but they have a relationship to the larger story as well. His mother tells him shortly before her death that one of them came true. After her death Gerard decides it is time to go to England and find Alice. Surprisingly Alice is at that time being operated on by a famous neurosurgeon and expects positive results.

Prior to his arrival in England he had begun a brief correspondence with Abigail Hamish a good friend of his mother's missing sister, Anne. She leaves him the keys to the family house and disappears with a stroke into a convalescent home. A lot of research begins to unravel the threads of the multiple stories Gerard is chasing and he finds the last installment of Viola's prophetic story. He also discovers all the horrors that lie in his family history and the book culminates in a very cinematic last scene of biblical revenge. With nods to Henry James and Charles Dickens Harwood has woven a tale within a tale within a tale and done it with consummate skill. The Ghost Writer is a very spooky story. Read it with all the lights on. show less