The Vintage Coat

The Vintage Coat

by Chris Turnbull

5 out of 5

 Synopsis
Joseph Michaels is 25 and an accidental time traveler. After losing his job Joe finds himself working at the local second-hand shop. One day whilst unpacking new stock Joe comes across an old military coat that he just can't resist trying on. Excited by the powers of the coat, Joe quickly takes it home where he discovers it allows him to travel between present day Alston, Cumbria and the same area during WWII Joe soon finds himself in the midst of living a double life. However, one night an unexpected air raid hits town and everybody is thrown into disarray; and Joe is faced with standing up for the ones he loves, even if it could cost him everything.



Review
Joe is convinced he is living a very unremarkable, until he comes across a vintage coat. When he tries the coat on, he's suddenly in 1943, and a soldier defending England from the Germans.

 I bought a signed copy from the author, during the UK Indie Lit Fest at Bradford this year. I've been meaning to get this book for ages, so I was very excited to finally start it.

 Joe's life is a disappointment. He's 25 years old, and living alone in the little house he bought with his now ex-girlfriend. He lost his job at the bank, and now works part-time at a second-hand shop. His brothers and sisters seem to do no wrong in his parents' eyes, and dutifully provide weddings and grandchildren, whilst Joe simply exists.
He lives without any motivation or aim, just wallowing in the pain of his recent break-up and failures. Until the coat.

 Suddenly Joe is back in 1943, in the village of Alston to protect the local mines.
I liked that, for the most part, it wasn't about the war, although that subtly overshadowed the community and atmosphere. Instead, it is about Joe learning to live again, as his new friend Charlie has an abundance of enthusiasm and gladly drags him out and about.

 Joe's time in 1943 is full of warmth, friendship, and a beautifully innocent romance with the local teacher. You can't blame him for wanting to spend as much time as possible in the past; especially as Joe has no idea how the coat works, and risks everything being over, every time he takes the coat off. (Kinda reminded me of "Goodnight Sweetheart" - I used to love watching that as a kid!)

 I really enjoyed this story, it's very sweet, and entertaining, and pulls you along as you wonder what is going to happen. It keeps you guessing to the very end, and I thought how it was all tied together was really nicely done.
Of course, there are the inevitable questions that arise when an author tackles time-travel; but I found that I did not care. I just enjoyed Joe's adventure.

 Goodreads link
Amazon UK

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Child of Recklessness

Image
Child of Recklessness (Trials of Strength #2) by Matthew R. Bell 4 out of 5 Synopsis They hoped escaping set them free. They assumed fighting back put them on top. They thought they had their enemy sussed. They were wrong. Lucas Bishop is a wanted man. After the horrors he and his group endured in Greystone, the hope that followed seemed warranted. They were high on success, and a new mission was formed. Find the people responsible, and destroy them. But things have changed. The survivors' lives are about to be rocked once again, with forces beyond their sight taking position. The new threats test our group to their limits, but in the end, the biggest threat is Lucas himself. He's filled with anger and resentment, and the lines between justice and revenge blur. Lucas will have to control his emotions. Or risk leading his new family to destruction....  
Read more

The Daring Assignment

Image
The Daring Assignment Victoria Bright 3 out of 5 Synopsis I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, especially him…  I was living the dream. I had a great career as a romance author, a successful boyfriend, and am the daughter to a New York power couple. With my standing, my family groomed me to be perfect. Despite having it all, something was still missing.  In an attempt to break away from my privileged, suffocating life, I was in pursuit of finding my own path to happiness. After my literary agent gave me a risky writing assignment, I set out to write a best-seller that took me completely out of my comfort zone and into the arms of another man. He was only supposed to be a research toy, falling in love wasn’t a part of the plan.  As I become tangled into a huge web of lies, I quickly find out that I have a life changing decision to make. Do I choose to continue living a life of comfort, stability, and misery or do I take a chance on the unknown to preserve my happiness?
Read more

#BooktagsBlogHop

Image
#BooktagsBlogHop The purpose of this blog hop is for readers and writers to share what they are reading, have read, are writing, or have written with others. This is not about promoting free or discounted books, though some of those may be featured. This is about book lovers sharing what they love about books.  This blog hop is about the Joy of Reading and the Joy of Writing with tags of your choosing and is hosted by author and blogger, Toi Thomas, the 3rd Monday of each month. We've been encouraged that, if we prefer, we can do a themed post - and being October, that would of course lean towards dark, night and all things spooky. But I think the scariest thing about this month is how many things I'm trying to cram into it. It's my own fault really, I'm addicted to reading books, and I'm struggling to control my works-in-progress. So deep breath, and let's introduce you to what's keeping me busy at this very moment:
Read more