- Published: 2 February 2012
- ISBN: 9781446474563
- Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 272
The Greatcoat
- Published: 2 February 2012
- ISBN: 9781446474563
- Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 272
the best kind of ghostly tale - one that has you pondering its implications - and checking the back of dark cupboards - long after the final page
i, Independent
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
The art of the ghost story requires delicate balance. The supernatural itself does not have to be convincing. It is enough that characters in the fiction are convinced by it. This was Scott's way in, to give only one example, The Bride of Lammermoor and also Buchan's in that remarkable and uncanny novel, The Dancing Floor and in his short stories about the supernatural. It is Dunmore's here too, in this beautifully written tale, and because she achieves this delicate balance, it comes off splendidly.
The Scotsman
Helen Dunmore's exquisitely written ghost story works its way with spooky subtlety into your imagination.
Mail on Sunday
A powerful evocation of period, and the tricks the mind can play on itself, its unadorned prose builds a chilling effect reminiscent of The Turn of the Screw.
Prospect
Her latest work is not a new departure but a development of familiar strengths: drawing us in to a compelling fictional world, populated by characters who live and love with vivid self-awareness. Dunmore has a sharp eye, and a fine-pen, for the hairline cracks in a new marriage ... 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.
Sarah Moss, Guardian
An unnerving breathlessly told love affair
Sainsbury’s Magazine
Beautifully written
Oxford Times
I love ghost stories and this one is hugely atmospheric.
Judy Finnigan
I really enjoyed the authentic wartime detail in this book.
Richard Madeley
The ideal ghost story for Halloween ... Full of suspense ... If you loved Woman in Black, you'll love this atmospheric tale.
Daily Express
This book is spooky, erotic and evocative. We loved it.
Richard & Judy, Daily Express
Sweetly spooky and romantic tale
Press Association
a sweetly spooky and romantic tale
Style (Cambridge)
A classic ghost story ... where the novel stands out is in its wonderful sketches of the utter creepiness of life in Carey's dark little flat ... 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.
Independent on Sunday
A great read, peopled with likely characters and a satisfyingly spooky outcome.
Candis
Wrap yourself in a blanket, pour a glass of wine and lose yourself in this atmospheric ghost story ... full of twists, turns and jump-out-of-your-skin shocks, we'd advice you leave the lights on while reading.
WeightWatchers magazine
Dunmore evokes the loneliness of the newlywed protagonist, to haunting effect.
Radio Times
In her Afterword, Dunmore says that her inspirations for this ghost story were The Turn of the Screw and Tom's Midnight Garden, stories which deal with the past's imprint upon the present. Her own story stands comparison with those illustrious models… A genuinely eerie story in which both the living and the dead are equally real.
Independent on Sunday
Helen Dunmore’s The Greatcoat is many things—most of which can be modified with beautiful. It’s beautifully written and paced. It’s beautifully haunting. It even seems beautifully effortless as if each perfect word simply floated down to the page (although anyone who writes knows that books rarely ever happen that way).
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