20–14288
To Eleanor More and her husband, Richard, a blue Chinese coat that she could not afford to buy became a kind of a symbol. The desire to give it to her stayed with her husband all thru their early married life—while their family was growing up and even after the children were men and women. Their pilgrimage to a far country to at last gain possession of the coat is the climax of a story which is part allegory and part romance.
“A quiet tale of married life told with a charming simplicity and a touch of symbolism.”
+ Booklist 17:71 N ’20
“Companionable, sweet and comfortable, filling the mind with dreams of times when, unwillingly and under pressure, we were forced to let the great desire go.”
+ Bookm 52:175 O ’20 60w
“A sweet little story, charmingly told, and illustrating the lovable qualities of husband and wife.”
+ Cath World 112:271 N ’20 60w
“A story that is remarkably compact and sustained in interest throughout. Throughout it is woven the glimmering web of poetry, and this is due partly to the theme itself and partly to the simplicity of the prose. One feels upon reading the story that Mrs Lee possesses unsuspected talents. The idealism and symbolic qualities of ‘The Chinese coat’ are never in doubt. It is a book to be read.”