The Ghost and Mrs. Muir: Vintage Movie Classics

I am writing this review to remind people there are better works of supernatural romance out there than Twilight. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is one such example. The novel was written in 1945 and then adapted into a film with George Sanders and later a TV series in the sixties.

The ghost and Mrs. Muir tells the story of a young widow, Lucy Muir who has decided she wants to break away from the control of her over-bearing and dominating in-laws. Already by this point the feminism and strength of the protagonist of the 1945 novel exceeds that of the more modern supernatural romance Twilight. When Lucy Muir finds a house to her liking she discovers very quickly that it is haunted by a very vocal spectre of an old sea captain by the name of Captain Daniel Gregg.
The ghost of Captain Daniel Gregg is one of my three favourite fiction ghosts. The list consists of Captain Daniel Gregg of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Sir Simon de Canterville from The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde (particularly Patrick Stewart's portryal) and Hrothbert of Bainbridge AKA Bob from the short lived television series adaptation of The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (Hrothbert of Bainbridge doesn't exist in the actual Dresden Files novels).

The plot of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is pretty straight forward. A widow decides she doesn't want to be dominated by her in-laws so she moves to a house by the sea. The house happens to be haunted by a dead sea captain that everyone believes committed suicide but it turns out his death was accidental. The sardonic old ghost and the widow become reluctant friends after getting on each other's nerves. And eventually fall in love. The widow gets seduced by a living jerk (played by George Sanders in the movie) who is only using her. When Mrs. Muir starts to run out of money she writes a book (with the aide of the ghost) about life on the open seas called Blood and Swash and it ends up successful.
There's a lot of comedy in which the ghost puts her in-laws in their place by pulling pranks on them and provoking Mrs. Muir / tricking her into telling them off. But in the end I won't deny it's a romance and not everyone's sort of thing. In general I don't like romance novels but this one amuses me.

In The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, despite the ghost's seeming misogyny Lucy and the captain develop a quirky and strangely affectionate relationship. For all of his roughness and snark the captain is actually a gentleman inside. The character portrayals are realistic and very human unlike the protagonists of Twilight in which the characters are two dimensional archetypes to appeal to a shallow demographic.
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir isn't just a sweet romance. It also has a running wit and humour completely lacking in most modern supernatural romances. It seems today all attempts at humour in romance become self-parodies. There's more to the story than just fluff. It's about taking control of your own life, standing up for yourself, independence, love and moving on, the power of love and friendship, and the value of love, life and family (no matter how unusual the definition might be), as well as the agelessness of real love all told with excellent wit and humour.
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is highly underrated. It deserves more attention. It is a brilliant story far ahead of it's time. I actually wish there would be a new film adaptation of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, not because I think there is anything wrong with the first film adaptation, but because I think a new generation should be introduced to good supernatural romantic fiction as opposed to what is currently trendy and sadly many of the current generation won't watch a black and white film or read a novel more than twenty years old because they make negative assumptions about the content such as assuming it would be out dated, stuffy, cheesy or hard to follow. The ghost and Mrs. Muir is none of these things. It's a head of the curb and I certainly would rather re-read The ghost and Mrs. Muir than Twilight. Thanks to Terrence Mann's portrayal of Hrothbert of Bainbridge in the short lived Dresden Files TV series I can completely see him as Captain Daniel Gregg if there was a new film version to be made.

I strongly recommend The Ghost and Mrs. Muir to anyone interested in supernatural romance, ghost stories, dry wit, or just good literature in general. This semi-obscure gem needs more attention and I truly feel it is of a higher quality in writing than what is currently fashionable in supernatural literature and fantasy.

The edition currently for sale on the store has a very plain, very boring berry coloured cover with no artwork at all. Don't judge a book by it's cover. The book is not plain or boring. It's the only supernatural romance I like. I have always loved supernatural fiction but I was never one for romance novels.

Now for the negative:

The one truly annoying thing about The Ghost and Mrs. Muir novel is that you never physically see the ghost. This really gets on my nerves. The book is written in such a way that you're supposed to just forget that you never actually see the ghost but I don't.

Because you never actually see him and because the ghost opts to telepathically communicate with Mrs. Muir there has been some debate on if the ghost was real or just a figment of Mrs. Muir's imagination, a manifestation of what she needed in order to make herself assertive and independent. There are subtle hints that he might only exist in her head and you're made to question this a lot. Is he real or isn't he? I did not like that.

The ambiguity of this however is quickly broken by the final scene in which we are given a scene of the ghost and Mrs. Muir together shortly after her own death. Yet again there is no physical description but I guess it's because ghosts have no physical bodies.

The lack of physical description for the ghost and the implication that he never takes physical form in the novel is somewhat annoying. It eventually got on my nerves. I understand the author might have wanted to make it hard to tell if he was real or just in her head (which later gets mocked in an episode of the 1960s The Ghost and Mrs. Muir TV series with the episode 'Dear Delusion') but it seemed like a half-hearted attempt at depth that wasn't fully explored.
The question if is the ghost real reminded me of the film K-Pax and the novel it was based on where you had to question if the character was really an alien or just a mental patient (which later revealed in the series that he was an alien after all). I actually did not like this aspect of the novel. It seemed to take away from Mrs. Muir's character to hint that Captain Grregg might have only been in her head. She was strong enough without him in making up her mind to leave her controlling in-laws.

This was one thing that I felt they improved with the film and TV series in giving the captain a physical manifestation, the illusion of a living man he chose to appear as. The one thing I preferred of the novel though is that in the novel the ghost doesn't abruptly leave her when she's attracted to the jerk, Miles.
In the film she finds out Miles is already married and then she has no one because the ghost left her. It's implied that Captain Gregg had left her because he didn't want to interfere with her life. He wanted her to live her life, not pine for the dead. He even had her convinced that their entire relationship had just been a dream in the film (until she passes away at the end and they reunite). I HATED this in the film. In the novel Captain Gregg leaves for a little while but not through the rest of the entirety of her life, leaving her lonely until she dies (again, I hate that in the film). And he never convinces her that he was just a dream in the novel.

It bugs me that he never manifests physically in the novel and there's a half hearted attempt to make you question if he's real or in her mind until the final scene when they are finally truly united. And that was one thing I'm glad they didn't use for the film. The film needed a physical appearance for the ghost and it worked better.

In general I do like this book but it's not perfect. And I have to admit that if it had been left completely ambiguous if the ghost was real or not I might not have liked it at all. I don't need a romantic version of The Turn of the Screw where you spend the whole time wondering if the ghost is real or in her imagination. I suspect that it's possible that R. A.'s publisher demanded she confirm the ghost was real at the end because it might not sell otherwise.

I liked the personality of the character of the sarcastic and seemingly misogynistic ghost and don't like the idea of him only being in her mind. At times he was the most fleshed out character of the story.

This novel is better than Twilight. I think perhaps all reviews here should end on that note. It's better than Twilight...

seller was very kind about responding to my queries before purchase, and sent it promptly (which i've posted before )
I put off starting this book until end of July, and now am delighted by this deeper perspective on characters
I came to love as a child when first viewed the movie version w Rex Harrison as the ghost and Gene TIerney as Mrs. Muir.
Book is in good condition,
and was printed published during last part of WW II.
i am glad it was owned and read before coming to me.

The movie was better. After all, Gene Tierney & Rex Harrison, eye candy. The book is some dated, in the little woman is a little too humble, too helpless. A good read, just don't expect too much.

I enjoyed reading this book, after being in love with the romantic version movie for as far back as I can remember. The movie definately took liberties in reworking the story, but it was interesting to read how it all was originally put down on paper. The only thing I think detracted from the story was the way they kept trying to analize everything. Outside of that, I thought it was a good ghost story

*My review comes from reading the 1945 hardback edition.*

Isn't it funny when you have watched a movie and more than once, only to find out it was a book written long ago? Of course, the movie was made decades ago but it never occurred to me that it was a book first.

I first saw THE GHOST AND MRS MUIR in black and white when I was a teenager and fell in love with the ghostly charm of Captain Gregg, the sweet Mrs. Muir and, of course, the awesome music. Years went by and I saw it again late one night as an adult. I still thought it was wonderful but this time I appreciated the costumes and, if I didn't know better, the winds and smell of the sea. I rarely buy movies but this was one time I searched for and purchased the film. It was made in 1947 and, whether you rent or buy the dvd, try to watch the black and white version with Rex Harrison and Gene Tierney. Not the TV show. The movie is oh, so, good!

But back to the book. I tagged it 'coming of age' because even though Lucy 'Lucia' Muir is in her early 30's and a widow with young children, she has quite a bit of growing up to do. Under the thumb of her sisters-in-law, she is bursting to finally be on her own and Gull Cottage calls to her.

Captain Gregg, the original owner, unexpectedly died under unusual circumstances. Unintentionally, it was left to his good-for-nothing nephew. So he haunts it. And since then, no one has lived there for more than a few hours. Until Lucy 'comes home'.

I enjoyed reading how the two originally met. Lucy is earthier in the story and prone to make mistakes. There were even a couple of times I didn't like the decisions she might have made if the Captain hadn't gotten involved.
In the book Lucy hears his voice but never actually sees his spirit as in the movie. There are other differences and, as someone else said, it was probably to make the movie flow smoothly.

Though I did like the story, if I had to choose between the two I would pick the movie, hands down. This is a fantasy-ghost story-historical romance and a slice of life taking place in England-by-the-sea during the early 1900's. It has some 'woooooo' moments but they are light. Read it, watch it or do both and see which one you favor. Just take the time as I did and fall in love with the crusty, cantankerous Captain Gregg.

We may never know what happened in Marseilles, (you have to read BLOOD AND SWASH), since Captain Gregg is too much of a gentleman beneath his barnacled exterior to kiss and tell. We feel that the highlights of the novel are definitely his private conversations (verbal and emotional sparring) with Lucia, as he fondly calls her. Demure and petite Lucy Muir seeks refuge from her domineering sisters-in-law after she becomes a respectable widow with two young children. Formerly under the thumb of her lacklustre husband or her pushy in-laws, gentle Lucy has never been allowed to enjoy a lifestyle of her own choosing.
Amazingly she finds the inner strength to break free of the restrictive Muir cage with all its gilt-edged obligations. She flees to a modest seaside village where she is immediately charmed by Gull Cottage. Ridiculously low rent and a reputation for being haunted she considers attractions! She surprises everyone (including the nervous realtor) by taking up permanent residence with her chiildren and a faithful cook.
But the local ghost legend is well-founded; in fact she meets the crusty sea captain whose portrait fascinates her that first night when she attempts to light the stove. Fighting to retain her newfound independence, she refuses to be frightened off. Why does she keep that old telescope in her (His) bedroom? How can a quiet, unassuming young widow tame a gruff and crusty old tar? Keeping the secret from her children, Lucy enters a unique relationship with this earthbound spirit, which becomes the focal point of their private existence. They help each other over the decades, proving that astral planes need not prevent maturing romance. Quite different from the movie, with more commentary on Life Beyond, but the story charms us still. I tenderly recommend this book for romantics of all ages!

The book closely follows the movie, but with a few exceptions. This is one of the better book-to-film adaptations that I've experienced. This book is a total love fest for me. I love the story; I love the characters. After I finished reading The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, I immediately wanted to watch the movie again. This book will be filed under comfort reading for me to take out again and again when the mood strikes. I can't wait to read other titles from this collection as well.

This is a charming and quietly wise story about a relatively young widow who finds herself suddenly able to make a life and choices for herself, free of the influence of her late husband and his formidable family. Over the objections of everyone from the realtor to her sister-in-law -- to the late owner himself! -- Lucy takes up residence in Gull Cottage determined to live her life the way she wants to.

The titular ghost is none-too-pleased about having a WOMAN living in his house, but he soon becomes fond of the stubborn Lucy and starts giving her unsolicited advice and lecturing her. They fall into a congenial, affectionate, if sometimes quarrelsome friendship that lasts for decades.

Through this time, Lucy raises her children, falls in love, fends off the well-meaning but overbearing attempts of those around her to manage her life, and does well for herself.

Her relationship with the Captain is an important part of the story, but by no means the sole focus.

This is a quick, easy read, but not less satisfying for its simplicity.

If you saw the movie, you will not be disappointed with the book. As with every book conversion into a movie, there are differences, but, the differences just make the book more interesting to read.

A widowed woman with 2 children escape the confines of her relative-in-laws and move into a charming cottage. The cottage is haunted by a Sea Captain who reportedly killed himself, but, in fact, had accidently kicked the gas heater on when he was napping.

The relationship between Mrs. Muir and Captain Gregg developes to the point that you sometimes forget that he's a ghost and the story plays out alive in your mind as you delve through the pages.

Quite enjoyable. Makes you want to watch the movie and TV shows again!

I was disappointed. The movie was much more charming. Lucy is rather unlikable in the book. I was surprised at how shallow she was at times and her cold attitude towards her son was a bit of a shock. My advice is stick to the movie.

I really enjoyed this book, and have read it twice already. It's a very touching love story. A widow moves into and old Sea Captain's house and she is confronted my his ghost. It is a very beautiful and tender love story. Captain Daniel Gregg is a real commanding as well as romantic ghost. Lucy Muir, the young widow grows to love him instead of fear him. I sincerly think it is one of the best love stories ever written.
This is a must read. It's a decent romance story, at the same time full of passion. There's never a dull moment and it is alwsy each page, captivating, romantic, and interesting.

I've read plenty of recent paranormal romances, but none come close to The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. I read a so-so ghost romance last year, and it made me yearn to read this book again.
Maybe this book rises above those others because it sets its ghostly element in a realistic setting populated with believable people. Sure, the captain is a crusy sailor, but there's a real person there, even if he is a ghost. Mrs. Muir holds her own, too -- none but the strong could endure that household.
The book surpasses both the movie and the TV show. If you saw the movie, set aside your memories of it and read the book. (For one thing, the movie ruined the ending!)
Anne M. Marble Reviewer, All About Romance

I took this book on a beach vacation and finished it in two days. It reads quickly, with some humor to make it a fun, lighthearted book. You cannot help but like the characters, and the setting. If you enjoyed the movie, the book is worth your time. (The movie follows the book very closely, with the exception that the Captain's voice is only in Mrs. Muir's mind, he is never visible to her in the book. In the movie, the Captain is very much visible to Mrs. Muir. This works well on the screen, but the book version of the Captain is just as effective).

The book was shipped faster than expected and in very good quality. I am very fond of the movie and wished to read the book. It was good, but the ending left a vaguely sad feeling that lingered well after I had put it down. However, that is just my opinion and I do recommend the seller b/c they are quality.

The original and still the best. Some say the book is better than the movie, and I am inclined to agree. Spectacular binding and presentation, a product that can last for generations. The font is easy on the eyes, and overall guality is the highest, from the paper to the rugged covers and pleasant colors. You will not be disappointed in any way.