Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Profile Books Ltd, Hardcover
Description
Late one summer evening, antiquarian bookseller Adam Snow is returning from a client visit when he takes a wrong turn. He stumbles across a derelict Edwardian house, and compelled by curiosity, approaches the door. Standing before the entrance, he feels the unmistakable sensation of a small cold hand creeping into his own, 'as if a child had taken hold of it'. At first he is merely puzzled by the odd incident but then begins to suffer attacks of fear and panic, and is visited by nightmares. He is determined to learn more 'about the house and its once-magnificent, now overgrown garden but when he does so, he receives further, increasingly sinister, visits from the small hand.
Media reviews
Veteran author Susan Hill established herself as a mistress of the ghost story with The Woman In Black, although this - like the more recent The Man In The Picture - is shorter, a novella really, one-dimensional and shorn of any sub-plot. It proves intriguing rather than chilling, although some may
Nevertheless, it’s hugely enjoyable and a perfect read for a couple of hours by the fireside on a dark winter’s evening, and would make an ideal Christmas stocking filler.
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find the end guessable well before they get there.Nevertheless, it’s hugely enjoyable and a perfect read for a couple of hours by the fireside on a dark winter’s evening, and would make an ideal Christmas stocking filler.
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Ultimately, this is a wonderful piece of storytelling that does what a good story ought to do: it keeps you guessing, pulls you in. And when the climax comes, the explanation and the source of the haunting are not what you think at all. You really don't see it coming.
User reviews
LibraryThing member litaddictedbrit
Before I start this review, you should know that I am undoubtedly one of the greatest wimps around - I don't watch horror films (ever!) because I'm deeply impressionable and find myself haunted by horrid images for weeks and I rarely read properly scary books for the exact same reason. I am not
Adam Snow is an antiquarian bookseller that is visiting a rich client when he becomes lost and comes across the ill-fated White House and its dilapidated gardens. I started out really enjoying this book. The scene where Adam first feels the "small hand" in his is ominous and atmospheric. Eventually, though, both the fact that Adam is a bookseller and the 'small hand' become overdone. There isn't a lot of time in 160 pages to build atmosphere and every time I felt the book was going somewhere, Adam disappeared on a business trip and the tone shifted and all of the tension was gone. The small hand appears out of nowhere and the pages crackle but then it's a repeat of what has gone before...
Adam, his brother and the owner of the small hand are the centre pieces and each one of them falls a little short of what you'd hope. Adam quickly becomes whiny and self-pitying, while Hugh is that way from the start. There's some back story there but by the time I "found it out" (some elements are obvious way before The Big Reveal), I just couldn't summon the interest to be shocked or care. The mysterious ghostly presence starts off as unique and intriguing but it just doesn't develop enough. I know the book is short and time for development is limited but I constantly felt that if just some of the superfluous details were cut, we'd have more time for the chills! If you're looking for thrills and goosebumps, this disembodied hand just isn't going to do it for you!
I think a large part of my irritation with this book also stems from the fact that the ending was half-hearted. The last quarter of the book is hinting at and dancing nimbly around a revelation that in the end only half materialises. The Big Reveal fell really flat for me. What I'd already suspected was confirmed but there were no explanations or filling in of the gaps - if anyone's read this one, I'd love to hear what you thought and whether you were left with the same gnawing annoyance as me!
Overall: For such a short book, this has a lot of filler and details that are distracting and turn out not to be relevant. I am struggling to imagine who I would recommend this book to and suppose that's because I wouldn't really recommend it...The characters are only partially drawn and the ghosts are lacklustre - not one to take t0 a campfire with this Hallowe'en, if you ask me!
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difficult at all to creep out. It's a failing, I admit but one that means I can read even marginally creepy books and find them delightfully disturbing. This book was not one of those books and I was greatly disappointed. Once I've decided to ignore my inner coward, I at least want to have some night-time shivers to show for it!Adam Snow is an antiquarian bookseller that is visiting a rich client when he becomes lost and comes across the ill-fated White House and its dilapidated gardens. I started out really enjoying this book. The scene where Adam first feels the "small hand" in his is ominous and atmospheric. Eventually, though, both the fact that Adam is a bookseller and the 'small hand' become overdone. There isn't a lot of time in 160 pages to build atmosphere and every time I felt the book was going somewhere, Adam disappeared on a business trip and the tone shifted and all of the tension was gone. The small hand appears out of nowhere and the pages crackle but then it's a repeat of what has gone before...
Adam, his brother and the owner of the small hand are the centre pieces and each one of them falls a little short of what you'd hope. Adam quickly becomes whiny and self-pitying, while Hugh is that way from the start. There's some back story there but by the time I "found it out" (some elements are obvious way before The Big Reveal), I just couldn't summon the interest to be shocked or care. The mysterious ghostly presence starts off as unique and intriguing but it just doesn't develop enough. I know the book is short and time for development is limited but I constantly felt that if just some of the superfluous details were cut, we'd have more time for the chills! If you're looking for thrills and goosebumps, this disembodied hand just isn't going to do it for you!
I think a large part of my irritation with this book also stems from the fact that the ending was half-hearted. The last quarter of the book is hinting at and dancing nimbly around a revelation that in the end only half materialises. The Big Reveal fell really flat for me. What I'd already suspected was confirmed but there were no explanations or filling in of the gaps - if anyone's read this one, I'd love to hear what you thought and whether you were left with the same gnawing annoyance as me!
Overall: For such a short book, this has a lot of filler and details that are distracting and turn out not to be relevant. I am struggling to imagine who I would recommend this book to and suppose that's because I wouldn't really recommend it...The characters are only partially drawn and the ghosts are lacklustre - not one to take t0 a campfire with this Hallowe'en, if you ask me!
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LibraryThing member edwinbcn
The small hand is a beautiful, spooky story that, unlike much of Susan Hill's writing in the past two decades reaches the high levels of mystery and suspense in her earlier novel The woman in black. Unlike The woman in black, which strongly evoked the atmosphere of Dickens, The small hand is firmly
The small hand should particularly appeal to book lovers, as the main character is an antiquarian book dealer who buys and sells old and rare books. The framework of the story is his hunt for a first edition Shakespeare folio, which takes him to a monastery hidden away in the French Alps. The short novel has beautiful descriptions of English county houses, landscapes and the visit of the monastery.
Throughout the novel, the main character is drawn to a derelict garden, a once famous garden now not only forgotten by most people, but also buried deep in the main characters memories. As memories and visions blur and get mixed, doom is near at hand.
The small hand is a gorgeous story for readers who love subtle suspense.
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set in the present, but no less dreamy and haunted.The small hand should particularly appeal to book lovers, as the main character is an antiquarian book dealer who buys and sells old and rare books. The framework of the story is his hunt for a first edition Shakespeare folio, which takes him to a monastery hidden away in the French Alps. The short novel has beautiful descriptions of English county houses, landscapes and the visit of the monastery.
Throughout the novel, the main character is drawn to a derelict garden, a once famous garden now not only forgotten by most people, but also buried deep in the main characters memories. As memories and visions blur and get mixed, doom is near at hand.
The small hand is a gorgeous story for readers who love subtle suspense.
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LibraryThing member passion4reading
Adam Snow, a dealer in antiquarian books, gets lost in the Sussex countryside after a meeting with a client. Driving around to try to get back to the main road, he happens across an abandoned Edwardian house with an overgrown garden. Intrigued, he goes closer, when suddenly he feels a small hand
After four fairly disappointing reads by Susan Hill, The Woman in Black of course excepted, I held out high hopes for this novella: a derelict house with nature reclaiming the once beautiful and tended garden, and a ghost child that makes contact by taking hold of the main protagonist's hand – how intriguing, I thought. Unfortunately the author gets bogged down in details and pursues a subplot about Adam Snow hunting for a Shakespeare First Folio in the remote mountains in France, and thereby neglects to create an atmosphere suitable to the ghost story medium. The truth is that the story was boring, and the main character's insistence that everything he had experienced was real only fuelled my feeling that it was anything but. Though the scenes at the house and in the garden were atmospheric enough, they gave but a glimpse of what would have been possible in the hands of a more skilled writer, and the anticipation of a neat twist at the end of the tale didn't get fulfilled. My feeling after finishing the book was that a lot of threads didn't come together to be knitted together into a cohesive piece of fiction, and a few ideas just didn't make sense at all to me. Disappointing.
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being folded into his own; needless to say, there isn't a child visible anywhere. But this isn't the only time he encounters the ghost child, and subsequent meetings will not feel as peaceful ...After four fairly disappointing reads by Susan Hill, The Woman in Black of course excepted, I held out high hopes for this novella: a derelict house with nature reclaiming the once beautiful and tended garden, and a ghost child that makes contact by taking hold of the main protagonist's hand – how intriguing, I thought. Unfortunately the author gets bogged down in details and pursues a subplot about Adam Snow hunting for a Shakespeare First Folio in the remote mountains in France, and thereby neglects to create an atmosphere suitable to the ghost story medium. The truth is that the story was boring, and the main character's insistence that everything he had experienced was real only fuelled my feeling that it was anything but. Though the scenes at the house and in the garden were atmospheric enough, they gave but a glimpse of what would have been possible in the hands of a more skilled writer, and the anticipation of a neat twist at the end of the tale didn't get fulfilled. My feeling after finishing the book was that a lot of threads didn't come together to be knitted together into a cohesive piece of fiction, and a few ideas just didn't make sense at all to me. Disappointing.
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LibraryThing member eleanor_eader
I loved The Woman in Black, my first experience of this author, let me state that up front. Susan Hill writes marvellous tension, just as nicely handled in The Small Hand as her earlier novel, which I’ll get to in a minute, but in comparison this was a bit of a let down; it’s by no means badly
This would have felt more legitimate as the grand opening number in a short story collection; it wasn’t quite suitable, somehow, for publishing in this - admittedly very nice - small hardcover edition on its own. It might have felt better paced, too, if it had been edited down to short-story length, or even if it had been brought closer to novel-length by foreshadowing the back-story rather than introducing it in the last third of the book.
Back to the positives; most notably, the tension. It’s something of a gift when an author can produce a tremor in a reader who hasn’t warmed to the narrator, or who can make the reader feel absolute relief when the character reaches the safety of a monastery, and then strip it away again just as quickly. Though nowhere near as chill-inducing as The Woman in Black, The Small Hand certainly has its moments. The other reason to read Hill is simply for her descriptive writing; wherever her character is, the reader is too… some authors sketch a landscape or scene, or give a few vague pointers and let the reader fill in the rest; Hill picks out small, exquisite details as landmarks in a larger scene and lingers on them for a moment, letting the tension simmer in the background while the reader wonders why a beautifully described garden is making them uncomfortable.
In conclusion, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this volume, but I would still recommend the story to fans of Hill’s if it was published in a collection.
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told, but neither is it as good as it could have been. Where The Woman in Black was a complete story centred around a haunting, The Small Hand is a haunting without much content. I’m not sure why, but the principal character, antiquarian book dealer Alex Snow, doesn’t have a particularly convincing voice, and I felt moderately interested, but by no means involved, in his aimless journey through his own plot. I felt a more lively interest in his book related searches, than his ghost related ones. This would have felt more legitimate as the grand opening number in a short story collection; it wasn’t quite suitable, somehow, for publishing in this - admittedly very nice - small hardcover edition on its own. It might have felt better paced, too, if it had been edited down to short-story length, or even if it had been brought closer to novel-length by foreshadowing the back-story rather than introducing it in the last third of the book.
Back to the positives; most notably, the tension. It’s something of a gift when an author can produce a tremor in a reader who hasn’t warmed to the narrator, or who can make the reader feel absolute relief when the character reaches the safety of a monastery, and then strip it away again just as quickly. Though nowhere near as chill-inducing as The Woman in Black, The Small Hand certainly has its moments. The other reason to read Hill is simply for her descriptive writing; wherever her character is, the reader is too… some authors sketch a landscape or scene, or give a few vague pointers and let the reader fill in the rest; Hill picks out small, exquisite details as landmarks in a larger scene and lingers on them for a moment, letting the tension simmer in the background while the reader wonders why a beautifully described garden is making them uncomfortable.
In conclusion, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this volume, but I would still recommend the story to fans of Hill’s if it was published in a collection.
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LibraryThing member JBD1
After my disappointment with Printer's Devil Court, this was back to form. I wanted a lot more about the main character's rare books business, but the ghost story is legitimately creepy at a moment or two.
LibraryThing member Amsa1959
An old fashioned ghost story without splatter. Nice and cosy and a good read.
LibraryThing member austcrimefiction
Susan Hill is probably best known to Crime Fiction fans for her Chatto and Windus series, but THE SMALL HAND is a ghost story with mysterious overtones which would appeal to anyone who is looking for something which is just simply beautifully written.
A short (and sumptuously packaged) book, THE
Drawn strangely to this house, Snow does a little research, discovering that the owner's grandson drowned there many years before, and as he discovers more, he finds that his initial reaction to this small presence becomes more disturbed. Snow starts to experience haunting dreams and panic attacks as the small hand insinuates itself more and more into his life.
It's hard to come away from THE SMALL HAND without an overwhelming feeling of sadness, a palpable melancholy. There is a sense of aloneness about Adam Snow that is mirrored by the presence he encounters in that house. For just the shortest time it almost seems that this is simply two lonely entities that have somehow come together. But there is a gentle building of a real sense of menace in this book, not fed particularly by any mystery, more by an increasing understanding that the past has moved into the present and bought with it a profound sense of inevitability. Saying that these two - the real man and the supernatural presence - are drawn together for a reason isn't really a spoiler as it's obvious very early on. The reason is not that hard to narrow down for a reader looking for a "solution", but what is considerably harder for the reader to come to grips with is the nature of damage and revenge, and the way that the past has been waiting for the present.
The sheer beauty of this compact, beautiful little book is very much the sense of emotion that weaves it's way out of the story and into the reader's conscious. The themes of revenge, retribution, regret and that overwhelming sadness stayed with this reader for a long time after I closed THE SMALL HAND.
A short (and sumptuously packaged) book, THE
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SMALL HAND is the story of antiquarian bookseller Adam Snow as he takes a wrong-turning one day and stumbles across the derelict old White House deep in rural England. Curiosity draws him towards the house, and the unmistakable sensation of a small hand creeping into his own attracts and intrigues, rather than scares or creeps him out.Drawn strangely to this house, Snow does a little research, discovering that the owner's grandson drowned there many years before, and as he discovers more, he finds that his initial reaction to this small presence becomes more disturbed. Snow starts to experience haunting dreams and panic attacks as the small hand insinuates itself more and more into his life.
It's hard to come away from THE SMALL HAND without an overwhelming feeling of sadness, a palpable melancholy. There is a sense of aloneness about Adam Snow that is mirrored by the presence he encounters in that house. For just the shortest time it almost seems that this is simply two lonely entities that have somehow come together. But there is a gentle building of a real sense of menace in this book, not fed particularly by any mystery, more by an increasing understanding that the past has moved into the present and bought with it a profound sense of inevitability. Saying that these two - the real man and the supernatural presence - are drawn together for a reason isn't really a spoiler as it's obvious very early on. The reason is not that hard to narrow down for a reader looking for a "solution", but what is considerably harder for the reader to come to grips with is the nature of damage and revenge, and the way that the past has been waiting for the present.
The sheer beauty of this compact, beautiful little book is very much the sense of emotion that weaves it's way out of the story and into the reader's conscious. The themes of revenge, retribution, regret and that overwhelming sadness stayed with this reader for a long time after I closed THE SMALL HAND.
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LibraryThing member mrn945
This is a short novel, but packed with intense emotion. It was a beautifully written ghost story about a man who starts to be haunted by the spirit of a male child. My only complaint would have to be that the haunting's were quite far apart. There were moments of exquisite emotion and then the main
I did find the ending a bit odd and abrupt. However, it did not take away from the rest of this beautiful novel! I would have loved it to be a bit longer, but I have every intention of checking out her other novels!
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character went back to a regular life which was perfectly normal, but felt a bit dull compared to the moments with the ghost. I did find the ending a bit odd and abrupt. However, it did not take away from the rest of this beautiful novel! I would have loved it to be a bit longer, but I have every intention of checking out her other novels!
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LibraryThing member Glorybe1
The Small hand was a very gentle ghost story, really, you will not be terrified reading it, but it is a good short story with a bit of edge to it.
Adam Snow an antiquarian book dealer gets lost and stumbles across an old delapidated house and garden, long abandoned. As he is looking at the house he
A really lovely little book.
Adam Snow an antiquarian book dealer gets lost and stumbles across an old delapidated house and garden, long abandoned. As he is looking at the house he
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feels a small hand take hold of his, but there is no-one there, and the story begins. He is unaware of the consequences of this event and is drawn back to the house and garden, in the weeks afterwards he experiences panic attacks and a powerful feeling of being defenseless and alone. He feels the small hand in his trying to lead him to pools of water and a precepice, with determination and persistance, which terrify him The mystery continues right until the end of the book, leaving you with a feeling of sincere sadness, in an ending that does not altogether surprise you when it comes.A really lovely little book.
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LibraryThing member dsc73277
I liked the quiet sense of mystery that pervades this short novel, though I can imagine it might not satisfy those who like to be terrified by ghost stories. In it, antiquarian book dealer Adam Snow stumbles across a deserted house and garden in the South Downs in a chance visit that has lasting
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consequences for himself and his family. Bibliophiles will enjoy following Adam on the search for a rare Shakespeare First Folio and will probably also pick up on the allusion to Dickens's Miss Haversham before it is openly declared. Show Less
LibraryThing member bibliobeck
Before I even started to read this I was delighted by this beautiful little tactile volume. It all adds to the Vicorian feel of it. Hill writes glorious ghost stories. No matter what the era (and sometimes it's hard to put a finger on which era it is) her characters always somehow end up sounding
In this novella, the protagonist, a book dealer, is grasped by a small hand of a boy who isn't there when he ventures into a deserted house, once famed for its beautiful gardens. A series of coincidences, twists and turns, and even a visit to a remote French monastry lead us to the final twist and the explanation of why the child ghost, at first benign starts leading Adam Snow ever closer to danger. As usual, a sublime read from an author who really understands the art of the ghost story.
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other-worldly and out-of-time, but for me this is what really works for her. In this novella, the protagonist, a book dealer, is grasped by a small hand of a boy who isn't there when he ventures into a deserted house, once famed for its beautiful gardens. A series of coincidences, twists and turns, and even a visit to a remote French monastry lead us to the final twist and the explanation of why the child ghost, at first benign starts leading Adam Snow ever closer to danger. As usual, a sublime read from an author who really understands the art of the ghost story.
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LibraryThing member christinelstanley
This is my second Susan Hill Ghost story and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Very likeable characters. Spooky, sinister, atmospheric and once again, not overly long. Deserveves a 4.5 rating really
LibraryThing member Siouxsannah
Adam Snow takes the wrong turn one night in the country and ends up at an abandoned house which used to be renowned for its amazing garden. There a small ghostly hand takes his. Thereafter, everywhere he goes he is compelled by some force to throw himself into the water. What is the secret of the
A ghost story in the traditional sense, where the past really does come back to haunt the living. Hill creates spooky atmosphere and a compelling mystery that makes you want to keep reading.
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house and why is he so drawn to it? A ghost story in the traditional sense, where the past really does come back to haunt the living. Hill creates spooky atmosphere and a compelling mystery that makes you want to keep reading.
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LibraryThing member devenish
Adam Snow is a dealer in rare and expensive antiquarian books. Returning from one of his buying expeditions,he becomes lost and ends up at a derelict house with an overgrown garden,miles from anywhere. In exploring this large garden he feels a small hand in his, but on looking down finds there is
If you prefer your ghost stories to be subtle rather than gory,then this could well be for you. Susan Hill has written several ghostly tales,including her most famous one, 'The Woman in Black', and this one although having less in the way of shocks is still a worthy addition to the genre.
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no one there. Although at first the touch of this child's hand has a friendly feel to it on later occasions it becomes more deadly. Whenever Snow finds himself near to water,he feels the strong pull of this invisible hand towards it . Several times he is in distinct danger of drowning.If you prefer your ghost stories to be subtle rather than gory,then this could well be for you. Susan Hill has written several ghostly tales,including her most famous one, 'The Woman in Black', and this one although having less in the way of shocks is still a worthy addition to the genre.
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LibraryThing member gaskella
Susan Hill is justly renowned for her ghost stories – her best-known one is The Woman in Black which is both chilling and a darned good read. The Small Hand is her latest, and I thoroughly enjoyed it too.
It starts off simply. Adam Snow, an antiquarian bookseller is on his way home from meeting a
This short novel has only 167 small pages and only needs one sitting – indeed taking a break in the middle could deflate the tension. Hill has great skill in crafting books where ‘less is more’ and not a word is wasted. Adam narrates his own story, and this really involves the reader as we share in his experiences; him being a bookseller was an added bonus for me too. After his initial encounter we’re lulled into a false sense of security until events take a different turn; the pace picks up and we’re pulled along towards the shocking conclusion.
It starts off simply. Adam Snow, an antiquarian bookseller is on his way home from meeting a
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client when he gets lost up winding country roads. Looking for somewhere to get directions he finds an old overgrown garden with a rambling and rather closed-up white house. Just when he thinks he’s totally alone, he feels a small hand take his – but there’s no-one there. Adam puts it down to an overactive imagination, but over the following weeks he starts to get slightly paranoid and he has what he believes is a full-on panic attack. He goes on a book-hunting trip abroad and he feels the hand again – but this time it is pulling him towards a precipice, and from hereon in things start to get dangerously spookier.This short novel has only 167 small pages and only needs one sitting – indeed taking a break in the middle could deflate the tension. Hill has great skill in crafting books where ‘less is more’ and not a word is wasted. Adam narrates his own story, and this really involves the reader as we share in his experiences; him being a bookseller was an added bonus for me too. After his initial encounter we’re lulled into a false sense of security until events take a different turn; the pace picks up and we’re pulled along towards the shocking conclusion.
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LibraryThing member adrianburke
I read this book at two goes: one session last night and then finished it off this morning while the soup was cooking. I've had a bout of sinusitis and been reading a lot. Not sure what to say about this book. Obviously you're tempted to compare it with The woman in black. It is a slighter book,
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physically small. It feels old-fashioned really and mentions of the internet and so on seem anomalous, an intrusion. Read at one go, it works. The link between the brothers, the older (guilty?) partner picking up the fatal hand from his brother. In this sense, it is reminiscent of the earlier ghost story where the past intrudes into the present. I think ghost stories are pretty impossible things to write as well as read and therefore this one succeeds. But probably only because it has been sealed off from the present world really - can you have a modern ghost story at all, I wonder? Show Less
LibraryThing member teresa1953
This is a charming little book, well composed and touching. Susan Hill is a master at building the tension and this was very evident here.
I do agree, in some ways, with another reviewer who thought this could be the lead in a book of related short stories, but I am not that keen on short story
Everything within the book was well related. The central character Adam Snow is an antequarian book dealer and so deals with the past every day. Stumbling upon an old and derelict house, he has his first encounter with the child ghost. The chance of a first folio of Shakespeare's work sends him to a French monastery on behalf of a wealthy client... and again they are living under ancient and frugal doctrines. He is certain that the small boy is still there with him. Eventually, he comes to understand that the small hand which he feels holding his own is a ghost from the past and linked to him personally. I did see the end coming, but it was still very tragic and moving.
This is a book to read snuggled under the duvet.....it all seems more real that way!
I do agree, in some ways, with another reviewer who thought this could be the lead in a book of related short stories, but I am not that keen on short story
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books and I would probably never have read it in that format. It was certainly engaging and I read it in a couple of hours.Everything within the book was well related. The central character Adam Snow is an antequarian book dealer and so deals with the past every day. Stumbling upon an old and derelict house, he has his first encounter with the child ghost. The chance of a first folio of Shakespeare's work sends him to a French monastery on behalf of a wealthy client... and again they are living under ancient and frugal doctrines. He is certain that the small boy is still there with him. Eventually, he comes to understand that the small hand which he feels holding his own is a ghost from the past and linked to him personally. I did see the end coming, but it was still very tragic and moving.
This is a book to read snuggled under the duvet.....it all seems more real that way!
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LibraryThing member esoldra
This book constantly sets context in that the whole book comprises of setting the context. There is no real activity throughout the book and the ending is rushed and quite messy in terms of how it has been constructed. The book basically involves the narrator, driving back and forth, making visits
Those expecting a novel and a good few day's read should beware of the size of the book. It is a very short book in length, and yet is very difficult to get through. This is the first book I have read of Susan Hill's and I had read so many positive reviews of her other work that I am disappointed that this is the first book of her's that I did read as it does not inspire me to read any others.
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to here and there to track down antiquarian books (with no detail really provided on these books). There is no real sense of mystery, in that you lose the ability to care what is going on. Those expecting a novel and a good few day's read should beware of the size of the book. It is a very short book in length, and yet is very difficult to get through. This is the first book I have read of Susan Hill's and I had read so many positive reviews of her other work that I am disappointed that this is the first book of her's that I did read as it does not inspire me to read any others.
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LibraryThing member meandmybooks
3 1/2 stars. Short and quite enjoyable in the "cozy ghost story for a cold, gloomy day" sort of way. I liked the antiquarian book dealer narrator and his "bookish" world, but the story's conclusion was a little disappointing. Abrupt. It was actually pretty much what I expected, but no explanation
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was given for an action that seemed uncharacteristic and seemed to call for a bit more elaboration than was given. Still, I enjoyed the story. Show Less
LibraryThing member john257hopper
This short novel is an absolutely brilliant creepy modern ghost story, with a shocking and tragic twist in the tale. Mesmerising stuff. 5/5
LibraryThing member sianpr
An atmospheric ghost story in which an antiquarian book dealer bites off more than he can chew when he comes across a derelict house and garden in Sussex. The best bit of the story is in France while the ending of the book, set in England, seems too contrived. Nonetheless, worth a read.
LibraryThing member EmmaBTate
Scary story, read it in one sitting. Atmospheric, you aren't sure what's going to happen. One of my favcourite authors.
LibraryThing member Storm_Constantine
I enjoyed the build up to the story, but was disappointed with the ending, which seemed a bit of a cop out to me. But a fairly satisfying read nevertheless - the writing is enjoyable.
LibraryThing member Michael.Rimmer
This story of a rare-book dealer haunted by the manifestation of a child's hand gripping his own started well, developed with sufficient interplay between the mundane and ghostly to make it creepily atmospheric, and Hill's descriptions of locale all added to the building tension which the ending,
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unfortunately, didn't quite pay off for me. Still a low pick, and if you like the classic ghost stories of E. F. Benson and M. R. James, then you'll probably like this, too. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kelley.Logan
I really enjoy Susan Hill's ghost stories. The magical thing about her work is that it is not new. She is able to work within the prescribed limits of the "ghost story" and still -- though you KNOW what will eventually happen--make you shiver.
Original publication date
2010
ISBN
1846682363 / 9781846682360