false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168765619m/37034.jpg 37034 22 What real reader does not yearn, somewhere in the recesses of his or her heart, for a really literate, first-class thriller - one that chills the body with foreboding of dark deeds to come, but warms the soul with perceptions and language at once astute and vivid? In other words, a ghost story by Jane Austen.<br><br>Austen we cannot, alas, give you, but Susan Hill's remarkable Woman In Black comes as close as the late twentieth century is likely to provide. Set on the obligatory English moor, on an isolated causeway, the story has as its hero one Arthur Kipps, an up-and-coming young solicitor who has come north to attend the funeral and settle the estate 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 nursery of the deserted Eel Marsh House, the eerie sound of pony and trap, a child's scream in the fog, and, most dreadfully, and for Kipps most tragically, the woman in black.<br><br>The Woman In Black is both a brilliant exercise in atmosphere and controlled horror and a delicious spine-tingler - proof positive that that neglected genre, the ghost story, isn't dead after all. 2127172 book 1983 The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story total:372|5:112|4:147|3:88|2:22|1:3| 372 1459 666 93 3 1 false false Mon Feb 11 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 10 20:05:23 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 12 11:40:29 -0800 2008 The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story. Why the book, originally published in 1983, was on the list at all is likely the greatest mystery of all.

Lawyer Arthur Kipps is sorting through a deceased client�...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Feb 17 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 22 17:44:33 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 22 17:46:08 -0700 2009 once more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Nov 04 10:44:43 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 10:50:15 -0800 2009 This whole thing with children dying is quite a typical spooky story. Apart from anything else there are COUNTLESS hints in the book as to why this woman is so feared.
From the beginning at the f...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri May 15 11:08:35 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 11:20:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Jan 07 02:07:41 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 02:32:56 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Sep 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 14:01:33 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 30 05:27:55 -0700 2009
I'm glad I decided to continue. I actually couldn't put the bo...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Oct 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 04:23:33 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 18 11:36:37 -0700 2009
I enjoyed the 'plot', although I don't feel that...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Oct 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 18:33:46 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 18:47:57 -0700 2009 Slaves of Golconda. The ghost story is thematic for October. The book isn't long, about 160 pages, and I appreciated the careful attention to the genre. I didn't really feel horrified though, and the book is definitely not haunting me. P...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jan 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Dec 19 15:44:28 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 09 19:59:53 -0800 2009 1 more...]]> 2 0 false false Fri Oct 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 16:46:18 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 11:33:11 -0700 2009
I really love a good ghost story, but this just didn't do it for me. I found the writing to be mannered to...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Aug 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 09:07:32 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 12:50:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun Sep 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 17:47:40 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 27 17:06:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 23:17:43 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 01 08:17:02 -0700 2009
One of its strengths is its sense of timelessness. I noted the summary above from the publisher's website and a few reviews cited it as being set in Victorian times. However, the presence of motor vehicles, i...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Nov 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Oct 13 05:22:43 -0700 2009 Thu Nov 19 11:02:12 -0800 2009 This was read by a friend and I thought it sounded good, and it was. ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Apr 08 13:19:10 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 14:57:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Nov 22 08:30:12 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 25 10:56:40 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Sat Aug 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 28 10:15:57 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 08:45:05 -0700 2009
The story is well paced, the words well chosen, the author creates vivid images of the landscape of the...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 05 18:49:01 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 05 19:16:56 -0700 2008
As a young man, he was sent to a small town to att...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri May 30 13:31:38 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 15 13:03:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sun Dec 28 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Tue Nov 25 21:27:52 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 18:59:20 -0800 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=37034