And suddenly, and mysteriously, she starts getting visits from a WW2 airman. When she unearths an old greatcoat stashed in a cupboard, she uses it as an additional blanket in bed. It's 1952, winter, and newly-wed Isabel Carey is living in unlovely digs with her preoccupied GP husband and a landlady she dislikes. Maybe 3.5* for this very readable ghost story. Read this review and others on A Bookaholic Swede ( ) I liked it, but if feels like it had potential that never was achieved. I wanted to be moved by the book, but that never happened.

Rather than just the first chapter and then through ghostly recollections. It would have been wonderful to have learned more about him through flashbacks. And, sure, it's a tragic truth, but I never really got to know Alec, and I thought that was a miss. So, everything moved forward rather quickly, getting to know Isabel and the rest of the characters, meeting the ghost, learning the truth and then the end. It's not a thick book, it just takes a couple of hours to read the book. I wonder if it had been better if it had been more to the story. But, looking back to reading the book do I have to admit that I did not really fall for the story. I found the premise of the story intriguing and it started off good. I did like the story, I just did not love it.

It's not like the book is bad, it's just not so fantastic that I hoped it to be. So, it is with a bit of a heavy heart that I write this review. Sure, the blurb about a time slip, an RAF ghost, and a mystery did help, but I can't help it, I absolutely love that cover. To be honest, the cover probably is the thing that got me to buy the book.

The greatcoat by helen dunmore