The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R.A. Dick

              I don’t have any idea how many times I have watched the film The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.  Whenever I come across it I always have to stop and watch at least a few minutes.  It does not matter where the action is in the film, I have to watch.  The funny thing is, that with as many times I have done this, I have rarely ever watched the film from the beginning.  In fact, usually I’m not anywhere near the beginning.  Somehow I have seen the end a lot, but how the story starts I have probably only seen two or three times.  This might be part of the reason why I was so excited when I saw the book The Ghost and Mrs. Muir in the Bas Bleu catalog.  Since I have a hard time watching the film from beginning to end, at least now I would be able to read it.  Also, I could find out how similar the film was to the book.  Some adaptations are really good, while with others it is hard to tell the book and film are related at all.     

                Mrs. Lucy Muir is a widow with two children.  Her husband and his family have always run her life and now that Mr. Muir is dead, Lucy is determined to live life on her own terms.  She takes her children out of town, much to the dismay of her controlling in-laws, and moves into a house nobody wants.  The reason no one wants the house is because it is haunted.  The ghost, a cranky, old sea captain by the name of Captain Gregg, does not want anyone living in his house.  It is his and his alone.  Everyone else must find residence elsewhere.

                Unfortunately for Captain Gregg, he never expected to come across a woman like Lucy.  She loves the house and feels she belongs there.  No matter what Captain Gregg does, Lucy is determined not to budge.  This house is her freedom, and she will not let anyone, dead or alive, take that away from her.

                Once Captain Gregg realizes he is not going to get rid of Lucy, they figure out a way they can “live” peacefully together.  The agreement they come up with grows into a friendship.  It is not always an easy friendship as Captain Gregg has a tendency to instigate things, such as Lucy falling in love with a very unworthy man.  He also takes great pleasure in making his presence known at times when Lucy truly does not want him to do so.  For the most part, however, the friendship is good.  Captain Gregg is by Lucy’s side as she raises her children.  When Lucy has financial difficulties, Captain Gregg helps her figure out what to do.  Then when the children are off pursuing their own dreams, Lucy and Captain Gregg write a book together.  While there are times when Captain Gregg disappears, for the most part Lucy and Captain Gregg spend their time together side by side until the very end, and beyond.

                Having now read the book, I can say there are some big differences between the book and the film (two children versus one, for example).  However, for the most part, the film rang true to the book.  There were even times when the dialogue was an identical match.  That was how close this adaptation came.  I was very happy to see this, because as I said before, sometimes it is hard to see how a book and film are connected at all. 

             Something I found surprisingly fun while reading this book was the comments that were written inside. Now, let’s get this straight. I am completely against writing in books, especially those from the library. I don’t like to even see pages bent. That is how much I care for books. However, while I was reading, I found my irritation at the notes slowly melt away. It wasn’t because I suddenly approved of them. It was because I became curious. The copy of the book I was reading was published in 1945. That is seventy years of possible time when those notes could have been written. As I read, I began to wonder when the notes were written and why. These questions added a little bit of mystery to a story that already had an air of wonder to it. I’m pretty sure I’ll never find out the answers about those notes, but that doesn’t really matter. For me, those notes will now forever be part of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.