The Ghost and Mrs. Muir from 1947 starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison has always been one of my favorite movies. I also enjoyed the TV series from the 1960s that starred Hope Lange. I always wanted to read the novel that inspired these shows and about 15 years ago I bought a hardcover reprint of it online published by Buccaneer Books. Copies of the original were and still are very hard to find and quite expensive.
R.A. Dick was the pseudonym of Josephine Aimee Campbell Leslie who wrote the novel which I thought was a very charming story that pretty much was in line with the film from 1947. If you haven't seen the movie, the plot focuses on Mrs. Lucy Muir, a young widow with two children, who must move because of financial difficulties after her husband's death. She finds a small cottage near the sea that is very affordable (because it is supposedly haunted) and decides to move into it even after conversing with the old sea captain who was said to have committed suicide in the cottage. Well Captain Gregg tells her that he did not commit suicide but accidentally succumbed to some leaky gas from the kitchen stove. Captain Gregg uses the saltiest of language but Lucy decides to stay getting Gregg to agree not to reveal himself to her children. Over the years, Lucy and Gregg bond with each other and to relieve some debt, Lucy agrees to take down Gregg's life story which is published as Blood and Swash, a real man's tale that goes through several printings and makes Lucy's livelihood for her.
I enjoyed this novel very much although I still like the movie version better. The novel is basically a fun romance and as such is not a real literary masterpiece. But the characters are well done and the ending is one of the best. I would definitely recommend this but also see the the movie if you haven't already!
R.A. Dick was the pseudonym of Josephine Aimee Campbell Leslie who wrote the novel which I thought was a very charming story that pretty much was in line with the film from 1947. If you haven't seen the movie, the plot focuses on Mrs. Lucy Muir, a young widow with two children, who must move because of financial difficulties after her husband's death. She finds a small cottage near the sea that is very affordable (because it is supposedly haunted) and decides to move into it even after conversing with the old sea captain who was said to have committed suicide in the cottage. Well Captain Gregg tells her that he did not commit suicide but accidentally succumbed to some leaky gas from the kitchen stove. Captain Gregg uses the saltiest of language but Lucy decides to stay getting Gregg to agree not to reveal himself to her children. Over the years, Lucy and Gregg bond with each other and to relieve some debt, Lucy agrees to take down Gregg's life story which is published as Blood and Swash, a real man's tale that goes through several printings and makes Lucy's livelihood for her.
I enjoyed this novel very much although I still like the movie version better. The novel is basically a fun romance and as such is not a real literary masterpiece. But the characters are well done and the ending is one of the best. I would definitely recommend this but also see the the movie if you haven't already!
