The Wardrobe Mistress

by Patrick McGrath

Book Overview

January 1947. London is in ruins, there's nothing to eat, and it's the coldest winter in living memory. To make matters worse, Charlie Grice, one of the great stage actors of the day, has suddenly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1786330571
• ISBN13: 9781786330574
• Release Date: September 2017
• Publisher: Random House UK
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Sort of a ghost story, love story, after the war

While I sit here struggling to write this review.. I hate to condemn this book..because let's face it..we all have different taste in what we like to read, and although this wasen't anything like I was expecting..to someone else it might be a masterpiece! So I will try to do my best of WHAT I personally thought of it ! I hate to speak ill of any author...I can't imagine all the hard working days, nights, weeks, months, sometimes years to pull a story together and write a book!! This story takes place..a year or two after world war ll, in England, where life is still very hard, food is still rationed, heat and electric are off and on, and in general people are still very much struggling with day to day life. The backdrop mainly centers around the Theater, where the main Character Joan has worked as a wardrobe mistress for all the Actors..her whole life..she is considered among the Best.Dressing and creating, and keeping the costumes for all the actors. It is her husband who is a famous Theater Actor who is very much loved for his work, all his years on stage, who has suddenly died. Joan is in shock at her loss, and goes into a depression of sorts, and starts to believe in her mind, that he's not really dead. That he is still here with her.It is his Big Wardrobe closet in their personal room at home, that haunts her night and day, and she believes that his " ghost" is in the wardrobe. She even talks to it, goes into it, and becomes obsessed with the wardrobe and all his fine clothes inside.The story has many levels to it..that I really don't wish to dive into..with more Characters..and more of who Joan's life becomes involved with...but the main thing being, that one day as Joan is going through her late husbands clothes, from the wardrobe, to pass on to a young man from the theater,(who, by the way, she has a brief affair with), (weird) who is very poor, and wearing thread bare clothes, she feels something under the Lapel of her late husbands heavy winter coat, when she lifts it, she finds the "pin" that was worn by fascists who believed in All that Hitler stood for.!! She is in utter shock..to find that this man ...her husband..hates Jews..and here he is married to one...for Joan is a Jew herself . As I said.. the story has many more characters that Joan's life becomes intertwined with, She has a daughter, but to me they have a very weird relationship, and like her father is very involved in the Theater, being an actress striving for Perfection. Joan's life takes on different roles after the shocking discovery of who her husband really is..and she becomes involved with her son-in-law to try and help squash out the remaining fascists who hide among them everyday, holding secret meetings spewing hatred, and trying to carry on where Hitler left off. Joan's life becomes more off kilter, as days and months go on, with this discovery of her late husband affiliation with the Fascists. I won't go into what happens in the end..there is so much more to tell. It is an adventurous read to say the least, I felt it on some level a slight " psychological " , heartbreaking, Grief filled..Theratical, kind of story. I felt it had a " Poe"- ish kind of story telling..but not really.. just very different. I can say.. because it was so different from what I was expecting.. there were many times I was going to quit reading, and chuck it up as a loss, but I decided to stick with it..and I CAN'T say it was a total waste of time, I believe in every story you read, if you like it or not, there is always something to learn and take away from it. It's just a story you would have to read and experience on your own, and form your own opinion.