November book club - The Girl in the Red Coat

Received my book today, just need to finish present book, perhaps we could have a little longer to read this one?

I have recently received my copy thank you and am about one third of the way through. It's really compelling and set from the point of view of the mother and child in alternating chapters. The child is very unusual and has interesting thoughts while the mother has anxiety problems. Looking forward to the rest of the book.

I enjoyed the book but was a bit disappointed as it has been described as a thriller, it's not. It's a beautiful story of a woman's heart ache & recovery over the loss of a child ( literally a loss not the death) and the parallel story of what is happening to her daughter. I though it was well written & highly engaging. glad to see it has been nominated for best first novel

I found this compulsive reading, and a superb first novel. I thought that the concept of a missing child would be too harrowing to read - but the vein of 'magic realism' that seems to permeate the novel prevents this. It is described as a 'thriller', but seems to encompass a range of genres, including a coming-of-age novel, as Carmel develops from an 8 year old girl into a young woman. It is also a novel about the mother/daughter relationship, with Carmel more readily able to accept changes in her life than her mother. The narrative voice, which switches between Beth and Carmel, works extremely well and I loved some of the descriptive details and images - particularly those used by Carmel when trying to describe her emotions. All the characters were convincingly created - with subtle differences between Melody and Silver, for example. There were a few unanswered questions at the end: what happened to Mercy? Who exactly is Gramps? I wanted to dislike Gramps, but, bizarrely, I ended up feeling sorry for him. I wonder if Kate Hamer has ever had any experience of faith healing - or believes in it? And what exactly was Carmel's strange gift?
Thank you, Gransnet, for choosing this novel for the Book Club, as I probably wouldn't have picked it off the shelf myself to read. I look forward to reading more novels by Kate Hamer in the future.

Well, it arrived on Saturday and everything has been secondary to reading this. Thrilling yes, a thriller, not really........BUT a thoroughly engrossing read. A wonderful debut and I do hope Kate has more novels in the pipeline. One has lived through trauma with the characters and one hopes now they are all at peace.

Thank you Gransnet (and Kate)

hi GN my copy of this book arrived today ... (thanks).

My copy arrived this morning.
Thank you Gransnet!

Just received this book this morning. Thank you. It looks really good.

My copy arrived this morning too, thank you very much Gransnet, my first month of joining the book club, so it was very exciting to receive it! As previously posted I thought I hadn't been lucky and downloaded it onto my kindle (99p!) so I'm a good way through it. I'm not going to read any reviews until I've finished it. Thank you.

Are the new books announced on the first of each month by the way?

And mine came this morning also - thank you GN - feel lucky to have got one again!

My copy arrived this morning. Thank you. Its not a book that I would have chosen myself, however reading some of the reviews above I think it sounds a good read. I will give it my full attention.

My copy arrived this morning, will read and comment asap. There is nothing nicer than a book shaped package on the mat, thank you.

The Girl in the Red Coat, dropped through my letter box today. Many thanks. Am keen to start reading.

only just received my copy - I'll read it as quickly as possible!

Got mine today

I got mine today, thank you! Will read as quick as I can.

I received my copy yesterday and have already started it. It does seem a really good read. Many thanks Gransnet for introducing me to so many interesting and thought provoking books.

I bought this book expecting a psychological thriller and had to give up halfway through (I can't remember the last book I did this!) because of the magic realism which I really disliked.

Have just received my copy and look forward to reading it. Many thanks.

Just received my copy today. Thank you. I am looking forward to reading it hope to start tonight.

Thank you so much for the book, which unfortunately arrived only this morning so a little late to make a constructive comment, but shall definitely starte reading it immediately.

My copy arrived yesterday morning (Tuesday) It looks like it has been on a trip around the world and is slightly the worse for wear (but perfectly readable). Looking forward to starting it soon. Thank you GN.

I was lucky this month after missing out on last few. Up to chapter 20 and enjoying it. There is a distinct other worldliness to the way the book is constructed as well as the character of Carmel. Am passing mine on to a Gransnet friend, as soon as I finish it,who wasn't lucky enough to receive one. Thanks for the copy.

I finished the The Girl In The Red Coat during the night, after reading it at every available moment. (Look away now if you haven't finished it yet!) It was a real page turner for me, I was desperate to know what happened next just about all the way through the book. I thought the characters were very well drawn and would like to ask the same questions as Grannijacq1. What happened to the original Mercy? Gramps did a truly horrible thing in luring Carmel away but there was a lot about his character which did not seem so bad - I wonder if this was intentional? The emotions of Carmel's mother were particularly well described, did Kate Hammer have any experience of this awful thing happening to anyone? I would quite liked to have read Carmel's reactions to meeting her mother again and her new half-sister, I didn't expect the sudden ending - but a book has to end somewhere and all in all it was a great read and I look forward to Kate Hammer's next book. Thank you Gransnet for my first book club book.

Does anyone know when we can expect the next book to be announced? (Have asked this before but no-one answered!!)

I received mine yesterday. I was a bit surprised because I'd forgotten I'd put my name down I've only read the first couple of chapters but it's looking rather good.