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Cold Heaven
What hapened to Marie Davenport on the cliff by the sea in Carmel, California? Marie herself cannot be sure if it was real or a figment of her guilt-haunted imagination. Just as she cannot be sure what it might have to do with the death of the husband whom she has betrayed in adultery. Or with that growing fear that Alex Davenport did not die in a boating accident on the French Riviera, but has , incredibly, returned to haunt her life and her love for the man with whom she has found passionate happiness.
Nothing seems to help solve the mystery. Not the power of reason in which she believes, or the answers of religion in which she has no faith. Not the medical knowledge of her doctor lover, who is as bewildered as she, or the investigations of Father Niles, a skeptical spiritual detective in clerical garb. Once again Brian Moore proves himself a master of thrilling suspence and profound moral inquiry. Cold Heaven is a triumph of the storytelling artistry and illuminating imagination of one of the most celebrated novelists in the world today.
287 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1983
3 people are currently reading
730 people want to read
About the author
Brian Moore
160 books169 followersBrian Moore (1921–1999) was born into a large, devoutly Catholic family in Belfast, Northern Ireland. His father was a surgeon and lecturer, and his mother had been a nurse. Moore left Ireland during World War II and in 1948 moved to Canada, where he worked for the Montreal Gazette, married his first wife, and began to write potboilers under various pen names, as he would continue to do throughout the 1950s.
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1955, now available as an NYRB Classic), said to have been rejected by a dozen publishers, was the first book Moore published under his own name, and it was followed by nineteen subsequent novels written in a broad range of modes and styles, from the realistic to the historical to the quasi-fantastical, including The Luck of Ginger Coffey, An Answer from Limbo, The Emperor of Ice Cream, I Am Mary Dunne, Catholics, Black Robe, and The Statement. Three novels—Lies of Silence, The Colour of Blood, and The Magician’s Wife—were short-listed for the Booker Prize, and The Great Victorian Collection won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
After adapting The Luck of Ginger Coffey for film in 1964, Moore moved to California to work on the script for Alfred Hitchcock’s Torn Curtain. He remained in Malibu for the rest of his life, remarrying there and teaching at UCLA for some fifteen years. Shortly before his death, Moore wrote, “There are those stateless wanderers who, finding the larger world into which they have stumbled vast, varied and exciting, become confused in their loyalties and lose their sense of home. I am one of those wanderers.”
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1955, now available as an NYRB Classic), said to have been rejected by a dozen publishers, was the first book Moore published under his own name, and it was followed by nineteen subsequent novels written in a broad range of modes and styles, from the realistic to the historical to the quasi-fantastical, including The Luck of Ginger Coffey, An Answer from Limbo, The Emperor of Ice Cream, I Am Mary Dunne, Catholics, Black Robe, and The Statement. Three novels—Lies of Silence, The Colour of Blood, and The Magician’s Wife—were short-listed for the Booker Prize, and The Great Victorian Collection won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
After adapting The Luck of Ginger Coffey for film in 1964, Moore moved to California to work on the script for Alfred Hitchcock’s Torn Curtain. He remained in Malibu for the rest of his life, remarrying there and teaching at UCLA for some fifteen years. Shortly before his death, Moore wrote, “There are those stateless wanderers who, finding the larger world into which they have stumbled vast, varied and exciting, become confused in their loyalties and lose their sense of home. I am one of those wanderers.”
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
February 7, 2017
For some odd reason, the last three books I read share a common theme related to the constant tug of war between earthly and heavenly love: Our Lady of the Flowers, Brideshead Revisited, and Cold Heaven. For me, Cold Heaven came out on top with its uncanny, shadowy plot that wouldn't let me put it down. Although it's an easy read with a feel-good ending, the plot is somewhat convoluted. What makes this book a modern classic is its author, B. Moore, allowing the reader to draw the final conclusion to what is real and what is not: science vs. spirituality; chances vs. faith; social mores vs. human psyche. There are inferences to Catholicism and Christianity with names of protagonists like Marie and Daniel; but Moore injected a touch of science fiction into the mix, not much but just enough to make one wonders about the business of organized religion.
September 5, 2014
This book was quite the eerie page-turner. I think I read it in two late-night sittings. It isn't just the plot that's creepy, but the main character is too. She keeps insisting she's not religious, but she is, very much, in that crazy, I have visions way. Even the religious folk in the book find her batty. Not only that, but she's incredibly irritating. I didn't like her at all and had trouble understanding what her love-interest saw in her. I kept reading despite her, but in the end, the best I can give this book is 2 stars. I hate spend most of a book wanting to knock the main character upside the head; it's not satisfying.
July 8, 2012
What happened to Marie Davenport on the cliff by the sea in Carmel, California? Marie herself cannot be sure if it was real or a figment of her guilt-haunted imagination. Just as she cannot be sure what it might have to do with the death of the husband whom she has betrayed in adultery. Or with that growing fear that Alex Davenport did not die in a boating accident on the French Riviera, but has , incredibly, returned to haunt her life and her love for the man with whom she has found passionate happiness.
Nothing seems to help solve the mystery. Not the power of reason in which she believes, or the answers of religion in which she has no faith. Not the medical knowledge of her doctor lover, who is as bewildered as she, or the investigations of Father Niles, a skeptical spiritual detective in clerical garb. Once again Brian Moore proves himself a master of thrilling suspence and profound moral inquiry. Cold Heaven is a triumph of the storytelling artistry and illuminating imagination of one of the most celebrated novelists in the world today.
A good read if somewhat spooky. I read another copy in 2005 when my then partner was out in his boat, which added to the scary factor!
Nothing seems to help solve the mystery. Not the power of reason in which she believes, or the answers of religion in which she has no faith. Not the medical knowledge of her doctor lover, who is as bewildered as she, or the investigations of Father Niles, a skeptical spiritual detective in clerical garb. Once again Brian Moore proves himself a master of thrilling suspence and profound moral inquiry. Cold Heaven is a triumph of the storytelling artistry and illuminating imagination of one of the most celebrated novelists in the world today.
A good read if somewhat spooky. I read another copy in 2005 when my then partner was out in his boat, which added to the scary factor!
February 2, 2010
The novel pulled me in with its unique, thrilling plot, then deftly introduced other themes on the nature of love, sanity, spirituality and Catholicism. It is truly a gripping, haunting book, and a good introduction to Moore, who has written several other superb novels. Avoid reading in the darkness !!
February 26, 2024
3.5 stars. A plot driven novel about Marie Davenport and the very unusual events that occur in her life over the period of one year. Marie has been married to Alex Davenport for four years. One year ago she began an affair with Daniel, a doctor. A year ago on the cliff by the sea in Carmel, California, she sees a vision. She tells no one about it for a year. A year later her husband is injured in a boating accident and pronounced dead at the hospital. The events that follow are quite unexpected.
Marie tries to make sense of what happens, seeking answers from religion and the medical knowledge of her doctor lover.
Another Brian Moore page turner. ‘The Lonely Passion of Judith Herarne’ is still my favorite Moore novel.
This book was first published in 1983.
Marie tries to make sense of what happens, seeking answers from religion and the medical knowledge of her doctor lover.
Another Brian Moore page turner. ‘The Lonely Passion of Judith Herarne’ is still my favorite Moore novel.
This book was first published in 1983.
November 17, 2019
As a Catholic, I was fascinated by this book, novel that it is. Those of us who spent time in Catholic elementary schools in the 50s and 60s were fascinated by the apparitions....Lourdes and Fatima, etc. This book offers a BVM apparition from a different point of view.
But even if you're not Catholic and even if you were never fascinated by the apparitions, I think this book will prove very exciting....even riveting! I am not sure if you will appreciate the ending, but there's lots of intrigue and suspense along the way.
But even if you're not Catholic and even if you were never fascinated by the apparitions, I think this book will prove very exciting....even riveting! I am not sure if you will appreciate the ending, but there's lots of intrigue and suspense along the way.
December 24, 2017
I found it plodding. The shifts in POV were smooth and the writing itself was good, but the characters were frustrating and the action repetitive. I was relieved when it ended.
July 2, 2020
Moore's self-described 'metaphysical thriller' takes the reader and the main character, Marie Davenport, on quite a journey. The author's reputation for writing credible female characters imbued with real humanity and depth is upheld here and Marie, buffeted by events she cannot control and forces that may or may not even be forces, emerges as a sort of every-woman.
This is a novel very much in the wheelhouse of a Brian Moore; elements of faith and religion, of human frailty, and at its core, a woman in full.
This is a novel very much in the wheelhouse of a Brian Moore; elements of faith and religion, of human frailty, and at its core, a woman in full.
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July 24, 2025DNF at page 191. Not what I was expecting, but also not holding my attention at all.
August 18, 2024
Bernard Mara makes a brief appearance as a hospital functionary about two-thirds of the way through 'Cold Heaven'. Mara was Moore's early pulp fiction nom de plume in the 1950s, which made me wonder whether he had consciously channeled the mode of dentist surgery page-turner for this effort. Moore put his own name to this one, but did he play Hitchcock in his own book, because he felt it similar to his earlier 'Mara' books?
It's characteristic of Moore in other respects: a tense persuit told in the mode of a literary thriller. It's starting point of a woman planning to leave her husband, which takes us back to the central premise of 'The Luck of Ginger Coffey' (1960), 'The Doctor' s Wife' (1976), and potentially more of the back-catalogue I have not yet reached [**edit, August 2014: 'Fergus' (1970) shares the Pacific Coast setting, only the title lead has recently divorced his wife**]. Meanwhile the paranoia of a woman who doubts her own sanity is straight out of 'I am Mary Dunne' (1968).
All in all it felt, therefore, slightly derivative, almost like a Moore had enough of innovating, and had settled here on a bubble-and-squeak rehash of the best leftovers. 'Cold Heaven' is warmed through, spiced through with the added piquency of Moore's ever moorish prose, but too indistinguishable from what's come before to feel like a dish that's going to win any stars.
Bernard Mara looking forward thirty years from 1953 would justifiably have been proud to have written 'Cold Heaven'. Based on what Brian Moore himself had written in the interim, though, it gets a cooler reception.
It's characteristic of Moore in other respects: a tense persuit told in the mode of a literary thriller. It's starting point of a woman planning to leave her husband, which takes us back to the central premise of 'The Luck of Ginger Coffey' (1960), 'The Doctor' s Wife' (1976), and potentially more of the back-catalogue I have not yet reached [**edit, August 2014: 'Fergus' (1970) shares the Pacific Coast setting, only the title lead has recently divorced his wife**]. Meanwhile the paranoia of a woman who doubts her own sanity is straight out of 'I am Mary Dunne' (1968).
All in all it felt, therefore, slightly derivative, almost like a Moore had enough of innovating, and had settled here on a bubble-and-squeak rehash of the best leftovers. 'Cold Heaven' is warmed through, spiced through with the added piquency of Moore's ever moorish prose, but too indistinguishable from what's come before to feel like a dish that's going to win any stars.
Bernard Mara looking forward thirty years from 1953 would justifiably have been proud to have written 'Cold Heaven'. Based on what Brian Moore himself had written in the interim, though, it gets a cooler reception.
May 23, 2015
This was required reading for a writing class, and the required aspects is the only thing that saw me to the end. I'm not Catholic, or Christian, and perhaps that's at the root of why I didn't much like this book. But beyond that, I simply didn't care about the characters; none are like able. The cheating wife, the cheating lover, the self-centered, mean-spirited husband; a lot of angst but too little forward motion. Parts of the novel felt like they were spinning in place, repeating the same mental arguments over and over. With enjoyable characters, I can tolerate some of that. But when I have no one to root for, it makes it tough to read.
December 27, 2015
I sought this book out after it appeared on a list of underappreciated novels. I've read many of his previous works. This was a genuinely creepy telling of miraculous sightings and the workings of heaven--or was that really the case? Truly kept me guessing which way Moore was going to get to resolution until near the end. Not a truly likable character among the cast, making it the more remarkable for its ability to keep a reader's interest.
October 7, 2010
This is a page turner. A novel about spiritual visions, which stays within the realm of Catholicism (unlike the DaVichi Code). Clear prose weaves a fascinating tale of a drifting marriage, and a cast of characters who are divided on issues of faith. It received much critical acclaim, and is a satisfying read.
March 21, 2013
This book is about an apparition to a nonbeliever and has some very interesting plot twists and turns. The writing is excellent and I recommend it highly. Brian Moore is a very under appreciated author.
January 25, 2018
Very strange book. Not sure even now what was going on. I'll read other reviews and see if that helps!
It sure kept me reading though.
It sure kept me reading though.
November 17, 2020
When adultery trumps God, or how an adulterous woman rejects the Virgin Mary’s apparition to her.
Marie Davenport refuses to believe that the Virgin Mary has appeared to her because she would rather be a skanky adulterer. Next novel, please….
Such a summary dismisses Moore’s brilliant fictional work, which combines a whodunit, a romance, and a hagiography rolled into one composition. Marie despises religion, so it makes sense that she would be the perfect character to test what would happen if the Virgin Mary deigned to visit her to express God’s love.
Marie never has a “come to Jesus” moment throughout the novel’s 241 pages, and readers will see that she is much more paranoid than rational about her lack of faith. No matter how cogently a Catholic priest would affirm to her one of the “basics of Christian theology[,] that man is free to say no to God”, Marie thinks the various incidences she experiences are not mere coincidences, but ineluctable proof that God forces people into belief (160-1).
Religious readers would smile at the novel’s conclusion. If Marie won’t affirm the apparition before her very eyes, then others will. God will neither be mocked nor ignored. While the narrator expressly affirms that “She had refused [belief in her apparition] and she had won” (240), the reader understands that the veracity and joy of the apparition is transferred from her, the original recipient, to another, selfless person. Marie is thus free to leave her husband and commit adultery, the breaking of the sacrament of matrimony destroying her life, her husband’s life, the life of the wife of her adulterous lover, the life of her adulterous lover’s stepdaughter, and untold others.
This novel is one big illustration of a pyrrhic victory. Marie began the novel as just another adulterer, and she ends the novel being the same. That the plot progresses from exposition to denouement so rapidly testifies to Moore’s literary ability.
Marie Davenport refuses to believe that the Virgin Mary has appeared to her because she would rather be a skanky adulterer. Next novel, please….
Such a summary dismisses Moore’s brilliant fictional work, which combines a whodunit, a romance, and a hagiography rolled into one composition. Marie despises religion, so it makes sense that she would be the perfect character to test what would happen if the Virgin Mary deigned to visit her to express God’s love.
Marie never has a “come to Jesus” moment throughout the novel’s 241 pages, and readers will see that she is much more paranoid than rational about her lack of faith. No matter how cogently a Catholic priest would affirm to her one of the “basics of Christian theology[,] that man is free to say no to God”, Marie thinks the various incidences she experiences are not mere coincidences, but ineluctable proof that God forces people into belief (160-1).
Religious readers would smile at the novel’s conclusion. If Marie won’t affirm the apparition before her very eyes, then others will. God will neither be mocked nor ignored. While the narrator expressly affirms that “She had refused [belief in her apparition] and she had won” (240), the reader understands that the veracity and joy of the apparition is transferred from her, the original recipient, to another, selfless person. Marie is thus free to leave her husband and commit adultery, the breaking of the sacrament of matrimony destroying her life, her husband’s life, the life of the wife of her adulterous lover, the life of her adulterous lover’s stepdaughter, and untold others.
This novel is one big illustration of a pyrrhic victory. Marie began the novel as just another adulterer, and she ends the novel being the same. That the plot progresses from exposition to denouement so rapidly testifies to Moore’s literary ability.
November 20, 2025
An atheist has a vision of the Virgin Mary. That's the promising central premise of this novel, but Brian Moore buries the lead under a hundred initial pages of bizarre events that have a great hook but create a lot of confusion. Marie's husband dies in an accident while they are in France, but his body mysteriously disappears. The mystery leads her back home to New York, then out to California. Until the premise is revealed, there is no way to fully understand her response to events or why she makes the choices and assumptions that she does. This approach might work great on television, but in a novel I found it frustrating.
I was more engaged after I understood the underlying problem Marie is wrestling with. She is forced to walk a fine line between reality as she knows it and the possibility that the supernatural event she witnessed may also be real. This splits her between dismissing the incredible or obeying its will, her inclination being the former but events frequently pushing her towards the latter like a course correction. Is there or is there not actually a supernatural element in this story becomes the lingering question in demand of an answer. The most interesting element is the question at the end, of whether Marie will remain satisfied with her choice. The final answer to this latter question stems not only from Marie's degree of belief, but also the reader's.
I was more engaged after I understood the underlying problem Marie is wrestling with. She is forced to walk a fine line between reality as she knows it and the possibility that the supernatural event she witnessed may also be real. This splits her between dismissing the incredible or obeying its will, her inclination being the former but events frequently pushing her towards the latter like a course correction. Is there or is there not actually a supernatural element in this story becomes the lingering question in demand of an answer. The most interesting element is the question at the end, of whether Marie will remain satisfied with her choice. The final answer to this latter question stems not only from Marie's degree of belief, but also the reader's.
June 1, 2018
I'm usually very good at guessing what is going to happen next or how is the book going to end. but this book was one of those rare ones that just have no idea what might happen. not in the exciting way you might not know what is coming up in a thriller but the way things turn around is just like normal life when everything is a mess and your mind can't think of anything anymore.
the writing was smooth and even though it was written from the third point of view characters were still very close to the reader and understandable. the way it was written...I don't know but somehow it was special. every single sentence would catch your attention...sometimes they were short...sometime longer and somehow its length kinda seemed to be related to how the characters feel at the moment.
I'm a bit confused by the ending though. I mean I don't see where the author wanted to go with this ending. was it to say we are free even though god exist? was it to show how some people ignore god? I don't know.
however, it was good and interesting enough for me to look forward to read more from this somewhat unknown author.
by the way, if you are not into philosophical/ theological stuff you probably won't enjoy this that much. (probably!)
the writing was smooth and even though it was written from the third point of view characters were still very close to the reader and understandable. the way it was written...I don't know but somehow it was special. every single sentence would catch your attention...sometimes they were short...sometime longer and somehow its length kinda seemed to be related to how the characters feel at the moment.
I'm a bit confused by the ending though. I mean I don't see where the author wanted to go with this ending. was it to say we are free even though god exist? was it to show how some people ignore god? I don't know.
however, it was good and interesting enough for me to look forward to read more from this somewhat unknown author.
by the way, if you are not into philosophical/ theological stuff you probably won't enjoy this that much. (probably!)
August 19, 2020
Cold Heaven is beautifully written at the sentence level ... but the plot loses its way. The main protagonist, Maria, has decided to leave her academic/doctor husband when he meets with a serious accident. She stays as he recovers but his recovery is set back several times. He seems close to death but then, mysteriously, he recovers. There is some mystery about his area of research having something to do with eternal life. Unfortunately for us this thread peters out. During her husband's rocky recovery Maria "sees" a vision - presumably the Virgin Mary - on a cliff. She becomes obsessed with learning more about this vision and this overtakes what originally seemed to be the main dilemma of the story - how to leave her husband. Because the plot seems to take a left turn halfway through I was left feeling cheated with a rather lame ending.
October 23, 2022
Dr. Alex Davenport is swimming when he is struck by a motor boat crashes. He is near death. His wife, Marie who had been planning to leave him is distressed by the accident and its timing. Alex dies in the hospital, but his body disappears from the morgue. She believes Alex walked out of the hospital.
Alex is alive, but is not his old self, He also occasionally clinically dead for an hour or two. Marie cimes to think that Alex's survival depends on her cooperation with God. Marie , a fallen Roman Catholic had a vision a year before of Mary who told her that she must unform the local priests thar that place must become a place of pilgrimage. The visitation qill prove a boon for the local xhurch, but what of Marie.s soul? An interesting story
Alex is alive, but is not his old self, He also occasionally clinically dead for an hour or two. Marie cimes to think that Alex's survival depends on her cooperation with God. Marie , a fallen Roman Catholic had a vision a year before of Mary who told her that she must unform the local priests thar that place must become a place of pilgrimage. The visitation qill prove a boon for the local xhurch, but what of Marie.s soul? An interesting story
June 20, 2022
This is an absorbing story who decides to leave her husband but he "dies" before she was able to do so.Her husbands body then disappears from the morgue and this leads to her establishing her husband is still alive but ill. At this point the narrative is extraordinary, dipping into miracles, apparitions and the Catholic church.
The novel shows Moore's mastery of the English language invoking a compulsive read of suspensea miracle and the turbulence of a marriage
An excellent read.
The novel shows Moore's mastery of the English language invoking a compulsive read of suspensea miracle and the turbulence of a marriage
An excellent read.
January 25, 2021
Not one of my favourite Brian Moore books, but none the less, it’s still a page turner.
With the regular use of land line phones / pay phones and pagers etc, thruout the book, due to Marie being a doctors wife, the book felt a little dated.
The main characters, husband and wife Marie and Alex, I really couldn’t warm to. But that’s just my opinion, other readers mite think differently.
With the regular use of land line phones / pay phones and pagers etc, thruout the book, due to Marie being a doctors wife, the book felt a little dated.
The main characters, husband and wife Marie and Alex, I really couldn’t warm to. But that’s just my opinion, other readers mite think differently.
August 17, 2021
Excellent as per usual from this most underrated and versatile author. A 're-read' for me, over 25 years since I first read it but found it far better and more convincing this time around. Despite Moore's atheism, he uses his vast knowledge of the Catholic church, miracles, apparitions, to create a compulsively readable story.
July 8, 2022
His stories start off quite simply but soon more complicated layers pile on and eventually so many loose ends are being juggled. The reader is slowly absorbed into the whole narrative landscape. There is always a sense that something extraordinary is about to happen as his characters try to navigate their way through the story. He is such a great writer.
May 15, 2023
I was wowed by the swift action of the first few pages. Then I continued, and though I was prepared for supernatural / inexplicable events, I was not prepared for...what this became. I always appreciate pervasive dread and a dark, foreboding atmosphere, but I wanted more physical, gripping, husband-related mystery here, less wife-grappling-with-possibly-heavenly-machinations.
February 17, 2021
Least favourite of those that I’ve read. I remember not liking this one when I first read it a long time ago. I think that it dragged a bit in the middle. Overall though it is a satisfying read. One more Brian Moore to go.
May 3, 2021
Moore is great on the whole Catholic guilt thing but this one is a bit over-wrought. While there's plenty of ambiguity, for me the psychodrama needs even more ambiguity to avoid anything other than a supernatural interpretation.
July 19, 2025
I read this as my 1983 book for the my novel life challenge. I never heard of the author and didn't know what to expect, don't even know how it ended up on my list. But, boy what a banger! I loved this book.
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October 23, 2025Marie Davenport wants to leave her husband Alex, and is planning to tell him at the end of their holiday on the French Riviera. Before she manages to tell him, however, he is killed in a horrendous boating accident. She returns to her lover in the States, but finds a surprise in store for her.
June 6, 2019
Jun 2019. Worthwhile. Need to think before reviewing further. Review here.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews