The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story

What true readers do not yearn, somewhere in the recesses of their hearts, for a really literate, first-class thriller--one that chills the body but warms the soul with plot, perception, and language at once astute and vivid? In other words, a ghost story written by Jane Austen? Alas, we cannot give you Austen, but Susan Hill's remarkable Woman in Black comes as close as our era can provide. Set on the obligatory English moor, on an isolated causeway, the story has as its hero Arthur Kipps, an up-and-coming young solicitor who has come north from London to attend the funeral and settle the affairs of Mrs. Alice Drablow of Eel Marsh House. The routine formalities he anticipates give way to a tumble of events and secrets more sinister and terrifying than any nightmare: the rocking chair in the deserted nursery, the eerie sound of a pony and trap, a child's scream in the fog, and most dreadfully--and for Kipps most tragically--the woman in black. The Woman in Black is both a brilliant exercise in atmosphere and controlled horror and a delicious spine-tingler--proof positive that this neglected genre, the ghost story, isn't dead after all.

About the Author

Susan Hill, a full-time writer since 1963, has written over forty novels, numerous nonfiction books, novellas, short stories, and several books for children. In addition to her writing, she edits short-story compilations, writes a monthly column for the Daily Telegraph, and runs a literary magazine, Books and Company. She has also formed a publishing company, Long Barn Books, inspired by her lifelong admiration for Virginia Woolf and the Hogarth Press. She was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize and has won the Whitbread, Somerset Maugham, and John Llewellyn Rhys awards for her adult novels, as well as the Smarties Prize for a children's book.Ralph Cosham (1936-2014), a.k.a. Geoffrey Howard, was a British journalist who changed careers to become a narrator and screen and stage actor. He performed in more than one hundred professional theatrical roles, and several of his narrations were named "Audio Best of the Year" by Publishers Weekly. In 2013 he won the coveted Audie Award for his narration of Louise Penny's The Beautiful Mystery.

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