Tuesday, May 22, 2012

The Greatcoat - Helen Dunmore

Helen Dunmore's new novel is an atmospheric ghost story. Set in Yorkshire in 1952, it's the story of Isabel Carey & her growing obsession with the ghost of a young airman killed during WWII. Isabel & her husband Philip haven't been married long. Philip is a GP & they've moved to Yorkshire so he can join a local practice. He's out on call all the time & Isabel is slow to make friends. Their landlady, Mrs Atkinson, paces the floor in her flat upstairs night after night. The weather is freezing so when Isabel finds an old RAF greatcoat in a cupboard, she's grateful for its warmth. That's when Alec first appears.

Alec was a pilot, shot down on one of his last missions before he went on leave. On the first night that Isabel wears the greatcoat, there's a tapping on the window & a man, a pilot is there when Isabel opens the curtains. She's frightened & draws the curtains but the next time it happens, she convinces herself that the man is lost & needs help. Gradually, Alec appears whenever Isabel wears the coat. He obviously thinks she's someone else as he assumes that she knows about his life. When Isabel is with him, she seems to be able to visit the past, Alec's past. They visit the abandoned airfield near the village & it's full of life, just as it would have been during the war. He sits on her bed, smoking one cigarette after another, jittery about another mission or trying to come down from the high of a mission completed.

The whole weight of the house seemed to press down on her. She was afraid again. Alec's words echoed in her head, but now they were more than a promise: I'll knock on your window. Swear you won't go to sleep. She saw his eyes on her. Her heart clenched at the remembered expression on his face. He was outside in the dark and the wind, staring in at the warm, lit world. Whatever happened, she knew that Alec would come for her, and she would slip into that other life again, her mind clouded with memories that weren't hers, her body moving to rhythms it had learned elsewhere. Nothing on earth could stop him from coming, or her from becoming that other woman, once he was there. There was no one strong enough to hold her back.

Isabel becomes obsessed with Alec as he visits her just before or just after a mission. Her loneliness & sense of isolation have made her vulnerable. She realises that if she stopped wearing the greatcoat, Alec would stop coming but she doesn't want him to stop. Isabel gradually begins to discover why Alec is visiting her house & what part her mysterious landlady played in Alec's story & the tragedy at its heart.
The Greatcoat is an absorbing story that beautifully evokes that grey period of austerity after WWII. The biting cold, Isabel's growing estrangement from Philip & her isolation in the village are very real. Isabel's life has been one of loss & loneliness from her childhood. She lacks confidence when shopping or making conversation & she's intimidated by Mrs Atkinson. Philip is so absorbed in his new job, trying to save enough money for a home of their own, trying to prove himself as the new, young doctor, that he doesn't have time to realize how desperately unhappy Isabel is. Isabel takes long walks in the country, visits the spookily abandoned airfield & feels an almost instant connection to Alec. The reader is with Isabel on her journey & I found it easy to believe what she believed. Alec hovers in that space between reality & the afterlife. Isabel has to find out what happened on the night Alec died so that she can set him free.

The Greatcoat reminded me of Susan Hill's ghost stories. I loved the simplicity of the storytelling, the effortless way that Dunmore created that atmosphere of unhappiness that left Isabel open to Alec's presence. The final chapters resolve some of the story but set up other troubles to come, after the end of the story, far into the future.

14 comments:

  1. This sounds interesting. I've actually been meaning to read Helen Dunmore but the books I'm interested in are not available on Kindle and are not in any bookstores where I live. So frustrating! I've heard her book The Siege is fantastic.

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    1. It's a shame you can't get hold of Dunmore's books. I've read several of them, including The Siege, which was excellent. I have the sequel, The Betrayal, sitting on my desk at the moment.

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    1. It was a great read, Mystica, I hope you can find a copy.

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  3. I found this so atmospheric that I ended up having to read it in the office in my lunchbreak rather than at home in the evening because quite frankly there were points where it gave me the creeps!

    You're right about the similarity to Susan Hill's ghost stories - for me the simplicity of the storytelling is what makes her books and this one, so effective.

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    1. There were some very creepy moments, weren't there? I think the best ghost stories are the ones in a very ordinary setting so that the supernatural doesn't seem too unusual at first, it just dawns on the characters & the reader that all is not quite right.

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  4. Oh goody! I put this on hold the other day at the library. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Lyn, I'm really looking forward to it now!

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    1. I think you'll enjoy it, Darlene. The atmosphere of Austerity 1950's England was really well-done & setting the story in freezing Yorkshire was an appropriate choice. Perfect for a ghost story.

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  5. I just bought this book so glad to see you enjoyed it. I only skimmed your review to get the gist of whether you liked it or not. Will reread it once I finish the book. Want to go into it w/ a bit less vision. Pam

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    1. I hope you enjoy it Pam, I thought it was a lovely way to spend a few wintry hours.

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  6. I went to an audience with this author recently and she was the most wonderful speaker, she made me want to revisit her back catalogue and discover more. I have this book to look forward to.

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    1. Lindsay, I've read a few of Dunmore's earlier books & she's definitely one of my favourite contemporary authors. She's a poet as well but I haven't read any of her poetry yet.

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  7. I have this one on my wishlist--it's not yet been published in the US, but if I can find it somewhere in paper I think I may have to splurge. I have another ghost story lined up for just the right moment and this one sounds equally good!

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    1. If you enjoy a good, atmospheric ghost story Dani, I think you'll enjoy this. I hope you can get hold of a copy.

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