The Ghost Writer

Rating:
Summary: Great novel, but a somewhat puzzling ending
Review: It's hard to know where to begin with a novel like "The Ghost Writer"; most novels are built up in layers, with previous levels supporting those above, but in this case, the layers are peeled back like a sort of archaeological dig with the subsequent uncertainty that goes with such an endeavor. Happily, it is a challenge well worth undertaking as "The Ghost Writer" is the rare literary novel that reads like a thriller. As other readers have intimated, it is almost impossible to put down and its labyrinthine structure and subtle horror kept me reading well into the night.

At its most basic level, "The Ghost Writer" is a two pronged tale that deals with Gerard Freeman's pursuit of his mother's mysterious and oddly absent family and his pen-pal Alice, who he takes to be his one true love. One would expect that these plot lines would become entangled, and they do, but what sets this novel apart is how author John Harwood manages to continually take the narrative at right angles from where the reader expects it to flow. At the same, time, he interjects gothic ghost stories written by a key character (who I won't name for fear of ruining the plot). At first, these abrupt changes in content and flow can be jarring, but as they draw the reader in they make for a fascinating change of pace. Moreover, as they start to reveal aspects of Gerard's mother's life, they begin to resemble jigsaw puzzle pieces which the reader must assemble in order to solve the deeper mysteries in play. Harwood wisely is neither to clever nor to obvious with these stories, and the result is a sensation of taking two steps forward and one step back.

While the plot and structure are undeniably what make this novel, it would be unfair to view the characters as mere baggage. In fact, part of what makes "The Ghost Writer" so interesting is that it is essentially a one man show. Many characters, many important characters, come and go through the course of the novel, but they are only ever seen through the prism of Gerard. As such, his hopes and emotional state color every other aspect of the work, and even as the reader can see certain elements developing in advance, they can only experience them through Gerard. In particular, the one sided view of his relationship with Alice is critical, and could never have been handled as adroitly in the third person.

Unfortunately, I found the ending to be either to abrupt or too enigmatic or perhaps both. On a very general level, I understand that the author was trying to make a statement about hope and redemption, but within the context of the story I felt that there were too many loose ends left lying about. I will admit that it is possible that upon re-reading, all will become clear as seemingly insignificant details from the ghost stories reveal themselves. Nonetheless, a more effective denouement would have made this a more satisfying read. Ultimately, while I respect the literary decision to write an open-ended novel, I think Harwood may have been too clever by half in this instance.

However, this should in no way detract from what is an engaging, well written novel. Harwood's interesting story within a story approach and the crisscrossing narrative make for a stimulating read. At the same time, Harwood has managed to develop a tremendous sense of impending horror that permeates the novel, but in a manner that is not oppressive. The result is a well executed plot that justifies it's convoluted approach with genuine thrills and a main character who the reader is drawn too. "The Ghost Writer" is the rare beast that is both literary and a great read while detracting from neither aspect, and is definitely not to be missed.

Jake Mohlman


Rating:
Summary: Tehnically strong, but lacking depth . . .
Review: This book is a good read. Harwood has a nice crisp style and the ghost stories in the text brilliantly evoke classic ghost stories written by luminaries such as Edith Wharton and Henry James. I adore stories with a frame, and the structure of the narrative works well, as the main character discovers ghost stories that tell him something about his family's past. This sounds good so far, yes? So why the three stars?

Unfortunately, the novel was ultimately disappointing. The best of ghost stories tell you something about alientation, place, desire, etc . . . While the book technically did everything it was supposed to do, it fell short of the payoff I was hoping for with such a promising begining. I only felt empty at the end, and not with the well-constructed emptiness that a great ghost story can provide.

I review books according to how well they perform in terms of the rules of the genre or how well the author fulfills the promises offered by the begining of the text. So I must judge this book to be good, but not as great as I'd hoped it would be. Nevertheless, I look forward to reading more from this author.

Rating:
Summary: Great...but ending a little off
Review: This book was great for those who love a good ghost story that will honestly scare you into sleeping with the lights on....at least that's what it did to me. At the end though, something was missing. I was left with the feeling that I was now missing a few pieces of the manuscript just as the character found so many times that he was missing a few pages to all his stories. Like so many other reviews, the ending left a damper on this book for me too.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent and Mysterious
Review: This is one of the better novels I've read this year. It truly grabs your interest from the first page and keeps it until the very, bitter end. The story's narrator is Gerard Freeman who comes across some ghost stories hidden in his mother's room. As we learn more about Gerard and his relationship to his mother we find a very dysfunctional family and suspect skeletons are truly hiding in the closet. Gerard becomes a bit obsessed about finding out more about his over protective mother's childhood and the strange ghost stories he finds written by his great-grandmother, Viola.

Why did Gerard's mother move so very far away from her family? Why was she so violently angry about Gerard finding and reading the stories hidden in her room? Why is she so reticent and resistant to telling Gerard anything at all about her past and about his family? The answers to these questions figure prominently in mystery Gerard begins to unravel as an adult.

Meanwhile, Gerard oddly comes across a pen pal he begins writing and falling in love with, a relationship that lasts throughout puberty and into adulthood without ever meeting face-to-face. Later, again through written communication, he is helped in his quest to discover his mother's and family's past by an old friend of his aunt's. Both figure very prominently in the story as it comes to its conclusion.

This is a very well written and enjoyable novel. I highly recommend it.


Rating:
Summary: "Ghosts or hallucinations - did it make any difference?"
Review: With its Anglo pretensions, and its homage to the novels of Henry James and Charles Dickens, The Ghost Writer is perhaps one of the most imaginitive and intricate mysteries of the year. Part ghost story and part coming-of-age novel, Tasmanian author John Harwood embeds his first novel with stories of nineteenth century gothic horror, while at the same time, setting the narrative in the later half of the twentieth century. The result is a self-reflective, totally absorbing, and unadulteratingly ghostly Victorian melodrama where the action is given a zappy, modern, and contemporary spin.

Harwood introduces the reader to a world of mysterious, trance-like paintings - the ghost shapes of vanished pictures that almost speak to the viewer. Deserted, overgrown, and rambling English estates also appear throughout, where floorboards pop and crackle, and where drawing rooms suffer in ghostly near-darkness. Deathly apparitions lurk in dark corners of libraries, and thick mist is constantly shrouding the characters. From early on in the novel, the reader is well advised not to take anything at face value, because nothing is as it seems in this ghostly world of gothic mystery and suspense.

The narrative centers on the young, bookish Gerard Freeman, who is growing up in Mawson, a fictional town in South Australia. He lives in a suburban house with Phyllis, his secretive, neurotic British-born mother and his detached father who seeks solace from his dysfunctional marriage in a toy train set. Imaginative and impressionable from an early age, the young Gerard stumbles across a photograph of an astonishingly beautiful woman in the dress of a former time, and later, an eerie short story in the form of a manuscript.

Phyllis has a violent response to his first discovery, and Gerard senses that she's hiding something about her mysterious past, a past that involved a grand English country estate called Staplefield, where Phyllis lived with his great grandmother Viola Hatherley. Gerard's imagination begins to work overtime and Staplefield becomes suffused with depths and subtleties of colour unknown in Mawson. His mother's unexplained stories leave him with an acute visual sense of the place and he senses that herein lies a clue to her unsolved past. Meanwhile, when Gerard is thirteen and a half, he begins a pen-friendship with an English girl named Alice Jessel. Despite his mother's wishes to the contrary, Gerard corresponds constantly with the strangely elusive Alice. Finally, Alice confides to Gerald that she was crippled in an accident several years ago.

As he grows older, Gerard begins to become obsessed with wanting to be with the paraplegic Alice and decides he must travel to England to meet her. Alice demurs at this, saying she does not wish him to see her as a cripple, but Gerard disregards Alice's wishes and fanatically saves his money for the trip. But in London, he is unable to meet her and she becomes strangely unavailable, neglecting to answer his letters or e-mails.

Harwood's poetic love of language shows in this engagingly beautiful and puzzle-like novel. And his clean, mellifluous style no doubt reflects the depth and gorgeousness of Victorian literature. An integral part of the novel is the hidden treasure of short stories written by Viola that Gerard discovers throughout the narrative. As the suspense builds, Gerald must become a type of literary detective as he uncovers the threads of a terrible incident involving a long-ago love triangle, a calculatingly horrific murder, and some hidden antique radiation instruments. Mike Leonard November 04.