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The Greatcoat (Hammer) [Paperback]

Helen Dunmore (Author)
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (127 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Book Description

Release Date: 30 Aug 2012 | Series: Hammer

In the winter of 1952, Isabel Carey moves to the East Riding of Yorkshire with her husband Philip, a GP. With Philip spending long hours on call, Isabel finds herself isolated and lonely as she strives to adjust to the realities of married life.

Woken by intense cold one night, she discovers an old RAF greatcoat hidden in the back of a cupboard. Sleeping under it for warmth, she starts to dream. And not long afterwards, while her husband is out, she is startled by a knock at her window.

Outside is a young RAF pilot, waiting to come in.

His name is Alec, and his powerful presence both disturbs and excites her. Her initial alarm soon fades, and they begin an intense affair. But nothing has prepared her for the truth about Alec's life, nor the impact it will have on hers ...

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Product details

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Hammer (30 Aug 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0099564947
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099564942
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (127 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 8,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

"You won't find plastic fangs or Dulux blood in Helen Dunmore's perfect little ghost story ... Dunmore conveys a shivery menace and concealed tragedy; this is the most elegant literary flesh-creeper since Susan Hill's The Woman in Black." (The Times)

"This is a haunting and exquisitely crafted tale where the line between the real and the imaginary becomes blurred." (Glamour)

"The Greatcoat is a well-written ghost story that observes the traditions of the genre without subsiding into pastiche ... Dunmore uses motifs and themes as a kind of Greek chorus ... these are subtly deployed, and enhance the atmosphere in this disturbing, thoughtful novel." (The Literary Review)

"An atmospheric and accomplished ghost story." (Woman & Home)

"A taut, elegantly written ghost story. Wielding her skill at bringing history to life in the small, dismal details of the post-war period, and showing off her talents as a poet in her mesmerising depiction of possession, Dunmore is on fine form here." (The Sunday Times)

Book Description

A chilling and atmospheric ghost story by the Orange-prize-winning Helen Dunmore.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
53 of 54 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Cleverly constructed haunting story 1 Feb 2012
By Ripple TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
Set in 1952 in Yorkshire, a young couple move into a rented flat. Philip is the new, young doctor while his new wife Isabel struggles with the isolated life with no friends or family and Philip's frequent absence due to the demands of his job. Things take a turn to the spooky when, waking from under the warmth of the old greatcoat Isabel finds in the flat, she hears a tapping at the window and finds there an RAF pilot, Alec, who appears to know Isabel intimately.

Ghost stories are not what you might expect from Helen Dunmore and this novella has her characteristic intelligence and strong writing. The central plot structure, of which I can of course not reveal, is very clever and the ending is suitably satisfying. However, the reader is left confused for much of the short book about time-frames (without giving too much away, we switch between 1952 and World War 2) and the brevity of the book doesn't allow for much beyond the basic characterization facts of the protagonists.

Of course some of the reader's confusion is justified in the sense that Isabel herself is equally confused, although her fascination with Alec overrides any great questioning on her part. It is of course ridiculous to expect a ghost story to fit with reality, but there are certain areas where Isabel appears rather too accepting of strange events.

Dunmore effectively captures the haunting feeling of the story but my sense was that we see rather too much of the workings of the story rather than getting a sense that the story develops organically. I could always see the author's hand at work in driving the story forward. This isn't an altogether bad thing when that author is someone of Dunmore's calibre, but I never felt caught up with Isabel's plight although the story itself is compelling and clever. I just felt a bit too distanced from it.

Despite feeling ahead of Isabel with large parts of the story, the ending though was unexpected and even a quite moving. As a brief, very well constructed ghostly novella, it ticks all the boxes, but probably as much due to the length of the book as anything, it isn't as involving as I would have liked.
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34 of 36 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars The Greatcoat 2 Feb 2012
By S Riaz HALL OF FAME TOP 10 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Helen Dunmore has long been one of my favourite novellists, so I was intrigued to read this new ghost story from her. A novella in length, it is a moving and carefully crafted story.

Isabel is the new, young wife of Philip Carey. Only married for two months, Philip has a new job as a doctor at Kirby Minster, a country town. Their first home together is a ground floor flat with a creepy landlady. It is 1952 and England is still in the grip of rationing and memories of the war. Isabel's own parents died in Singapore and she is feeling isolated and a failure. What woman cannot relate to the feeling that other women are judging and looking down at her attempts to be the adult wife she almost feels she is pretending to be? As her steak and kidney pudding goes wrong and the butcher gives her the fatty cuts of meat, Isabel and Philip grow distant.

Then Isabel discovers an RAF greatcoat in a cupboard, when she is cold one night, and is woken by a man tapping at the window. The man knows her name and she knows his. As Isabel loses touch with her husband, she wonders whose memories she is having and why she is driven to walk to the deserted airfield outside the town. This is not a scary book, but it is very atmospheric and sad, with good characters and sense of place and time. Helen Dunmore is really one of the greatest authors we have and she has pulled off this new direction with ease.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written, haunting post-war tale 16 Feb 2012
By Joanne Sheppard TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore is published by Hammer, of Hammer Horror fame, and has been widely discussed in the press as the author's first horror story. But it's really not what I'd call horror. It's eerie, yes, and has a slightly unsettling, dreamlike quality to it, but if anything, what it most closely resembles is those quietly magical time-slip novels of my childhood: Charlotte Sometimes, perhaps, or Tom's Midnight Garden.

Isabel, newly married to a young GP in 1952, is struggling to find real purpose in her life as a housewife in a Yorkshire market town, where she has few friends and few outlets for her interests. Shivering one night in the freezing ground-floor flat she and her husband are renting from their dour, bitter landlady, Isabel finds an old RAF greatcoat, left over from the war, tucked away on top of a wardrobe, and huddles beneath it to keep warm. And it's around then that a mysterious young airman begins to knock at her window.

The Greatcoat is beautifully written throughout in perceptive, perfect prose, and almost every character is vividly well-constructed (with the exception, perhaps, of Isabel's husband Philip, although given the plot, this may well be deliberate). I found it incredibly easy to sympathise with Isabel, brought up by an aunt and now trying to master the art of making a steak and kidney pudding and haggling over the best fish at the market when she could have been studying for a degree, and any adult who's ever had that nagging feeling that they still aren't quite a proper grown-up yet will understand how she feels. There are times when Isabel fears that she's losing her grip on reality, unsure whether Alec is what she believes him to be, or even if she's what she believes herself to be, but in a way, this simply mirrors the unease she feels over her new role in life as a supportive housewife.

If you're looking for real scares, The Greatcoat probably isn't for you, and if I had to look for something to criticise, there were perhaps moments when I felt that Isabel's attraction to Alec was slightly over-romanticised. But this a tiny point that I've had to struggle to think of. Overall, it really is a thoroughly absorbing, exquisitely-crafted, thought-provoking book that will stay with you long after you've finished the final page.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Greatcoat
It was a nice little read and quite 'atmospheric'. Think it might be quite good as a play. First time I'd read an H D, but will look out for more
Published 3 days ago by c green
4.0 out of 5 stars brought as present
not seen it brought as a present for daughter in law but had no feedback as yet as to how it went down
Published 9 days ago by tosca21
2.0 out of 5 stars Didn't quite go there..
What started as a book with lots of potential, ended up being a rather drab and uneventful ghost story. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Miss A L Knapik
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling read
Great narrative, intriguing and sometimes spine tingling plot, evocative description of the period - a great read, realyl enjoyed it
Published 28 days ago by Lainy
2.0 out of 5 stars not impressed
Not impressed, actually quite disappointed no real story . No real explaination of what was going on . I was bored by the end :-((
Published 1 month ago by kimster59
1.0 out of 5 stars Seriously?!
It is so unfair that material like this gets published when there are some excellent writers out there who don't get a look in or whose work is rejected by publishers/agents... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Bookymum
5.0 out of 5 stars Genuinely creepy
A proper old-fashioned ghost story, beautifully understated writing with interesting characters and no melodrama. I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended. Cheap too!
Published 1 month ago by Amazonaddicted
5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatcoat
This was a wonderfully enchanting book, I shall read this book again. It was a lovely book, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Published 1 month ago by Jean
2.0 out of 5 stars Weak story
I found myself very irritated by the main character. I found the story line weak and, other than the very beginning, not at all scary.
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. S. M. McALPINE
4.0 out of 5 stars What I ordered
Very please with this item and quick postal service .+ = = = = = = = = = =
Published 1 month ago by Mrs Kim F Cox
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