Although her output has diminished since the early 1970s, Susan Hill remains a significant figure in the English literary scene. Her novels sell solidly and attract considerable critical attention; sh...
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Susan Hill's career as a writer has taken some interesting and surprising turns since the publication of her first novel in 1961. The Enclosure was actually written when Hill was only about eighteen y...
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In the following essay, Schubert discusses the ways Hill's marginalized, often female characters illuminate the main themes of her fiction, especially in Gentleman and Ladies, A Change for the ...
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In the following review, Brookner concentrates on gothic aspects of The Mist in the Mirror, admiring the novel's "certain pluckiness of tone."
Yet another Victorian pastiche, this...
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In the review below, Fitton puzzles out the mystery of The Mist in the Mirror, noting that some questions remain "satisfyingly unanswered."
The mood of [The Mist in the Mirror] is autumn...
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In the review of Mrs. de Winter below, Kemp complains that Hill's imitation of Daphne du Maurier's narrative style "is unstirred by any imaginative power."
In recent years,...
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Below, Billington compares Mrs. de Winter to Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, finding the former derivative.
That fascinating author Ivy Compton-Burnett, when asked whether she had ever thought of ...
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In the following review, Hughes laments the specter of "literary ventriloquism" that hangs over Mrs. de Winter, likening its demerits to Emma Tennant's Pemberley, a sequel to Jane...
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Below, Hofer provides an overview of Hill's fiction, tracing the movement away from an "enclosed" narrative structure to a more "open" one.
Susan Hill, now concentra...
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In the excerpt below, Rubin finds that Hill's sequel is "a little duller and more predictable" than Daphne du Maurier's novel.
For much of her professional life, British wr...
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In the following review, Harris looks into the reasons why Mrs. de Winter fails "to replicate the success of [Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca."]
What happens to a writer who has mined...
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In the following review, Moore profiles the characters in Listening to the Orchestra, questioning whether they know they are alive.
'She had always kept her own company and her thoughts and fee...
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In the review below, McCrum offers praise for Listening to the Orchestra, which he observes "is a reminder of the virtues of the traditional English story."
Susan Hill is, of course, an ...
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Below, the critic considers the representation of grief in In the Springtime of the Year and its effect on the novel.
Some novels conjure up discreet, well lit interiors, where you notice people...
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In the following essay, Sofinskaya identifies the hallmarks of Hill's fiction, especially her short stories, indicating the significance of psychology, place, and death for her narrative art.
T...
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In the essay below, Low discusses the connection between Hill's fiction and her radio dramas, emphasizing the role of dialogue and the spoken word in her narrative style in both genres.
When w...
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In the following essay, Jackson approaches Hill's fiction in terms of a tension between detachment from and desire for life, identifying the idea of coldness as its "imaginative centre&#...
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Below, Muir assesses the achievement of Hill's fiction up to her hiatus from writing, discussing her narrative method, characterization, and themes.
When Susan Hill, to the dismay of her admire...
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In the essay below, Reed compares The Bird of Night, In the Springtime of the Year, and Strange Meeting, emphasizing the humanity of the main character of each novel.
Susan Hill's novels were n...
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Below, Ireland identifies the scene at Helm Bottom as the mise en abyme of In the Springtime of the Year, emphasizing its primary relation to the themes and structure of the novel.
It is almost a deca...
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Susan (Elizabeth) Hill
