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The Beacon
What happens to a family when one of the brothers publishes his “misery memoir?” Is his litany of childhood torment a complete invention? Or was there really a cupboard under the stairs?
The farmhouse was called The Beacon and they had been born and reared there, May, Colin, Frank and Berenice, but only May had been left for the last 27 years . . .
May had been the clever daughter and she had escaped the shelter of The Beacon, just once, to go to university. But in London she had been pursued by nameless terrors, the victim of fears and anxieties. Now she was the spinster daughter, the one who stayed, who nursed her father after his accident and looked after her mother in her old age.
Frank was the one who got away. He married and moved on. But why does no one ever mention Frank’s name?
Richly atmospheric, evoking mystery, ambiguity and suspense, The Beacon is a novella which continues to resonate beyond the final pages.
The farmhouse was called The Beacon and they had been born and reared there, May, Colin, Frank and Berenice, but only May had been left for the last 27 years . . .
May had been the clever daughter and she had escaped the shelter of The Beacon, just once, to go to university. But in London she had been pursued by nameless terrors, the victim of fears and anxieties. Now she was the spinster daughter, the one who stayed, who nursed her father after his accident and looked after her mother in her old age.
Frank was the one who got away. He married and moved on. But why does no one ever mention Frank’s name?
Richly atmospheric, evoking mystery, ambiguity and suspense, The Beacon is a novella which continues to resonate beyond the final pages.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published October 2, 2008
14 people are currently reading
482 people want to read
About the author
Susan Hill
180 books2,265 followersSusan Hill was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire in 1942. Her hometown was later referred to in her novel A Change for the Better (1969) and some short stories especially "Cockles and Mussels".
She attended Scarborough Convent School, where she became interested in theatre and literature. Her family left Scarborough in 1958 and moved to Coventry where her father worked in car and aircraft factories. Hill states that she attended a girls’ grammar school, Barr's Hill. Her fellow pupils included Jennifer Page, the first Chief Executive of the Millennium Dome. At Barrs Hill she took A levels in English, French, History and Latin, proceeding to an English degree at King's College London. By this time she had already written her first novel, The Enclosure which was published by Hutchinson in her first year at university. The novel was criticised by The Daily Mail for its sexual content, with the suggestion that writing in this style was unsuitable for a "schoolgirl".
Her next novel Gentleman and Ladies was published in 1968. This was followed in quick succession by A Change for the Better, I'm the King of the Castle, The Albatross and other stories, Strange Meeting, The Bird of Night, A Bit of Singing and Dancing and In the Springtime of Year, all written and published between 1968 and 1974.
In 1975 she married Shakespeare scholar Stanley Wells and they moved to Stratford upon Avon. Their first daughter, Jessica, was born in 1977 and their second daughter, Clemency, was born in 1985. Hill has recently founded her own publishing company, Long Barn Books, which has published one work of fiction per year.
Librarian's Note: There is more than one author by this name.
She attended Scarborough Convent School, where she became interested in theatre and literature. Her family left Scarborough in 1958 and moved to Coventry where her father worked in car and aircraft factories. Hill states that she attended a girls’ grammar school, Barr's Hill. Her fellow pupils included Jennifer Page, the first Chief Executive of the Millennium Dome. At Barrs Hill she took A levels in English, French, History and Latin, proceeding to an English degree at King's College London. By this time she had already written her first novel, The Enclosure which was published by Hutchinson in her first year at university. The novel was criticised by The Daily Mail for its sexual content, with the suggestion that writing in this style was unsuitable for a "schoolgirl".
Her next novel Gentleman and Ladies was published in 1968. This was followed in quick succession by A Change for the Better, I'm the King of the Castle, The Albatross and other stories, Strange Meeting, The Bird of Night, A Bit of Singing and Dancing and In the Springtime of Year, all written and published between 1968 and 1974.
In 1975 she married Shakespeare scholar Stanley Wells and they moved to Stratford upon Avon. Their first daughter, Jessica, was born in 1977 and their second daughter, Clemency, was born in 1985. Hill has recently founded her own publishing company, Long Barn Books, which has published one work of fiction per year.
Librarian's Note: There is more than one author by this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 142 reviews
April 16, 2019
The writing style is beautiful and it's a short, very readable book. But the story and the characters just left me cold.
November 20, 2010
I just finished The Beacon. By Susan Hill. Susan Hill always had that talent to get you right inside characters, complex or simple, using a few words to unlock them, as with a key moving smoothly to the right, click, there we are. The person spread out, what they understood of themselves and what they do not understand. As I read her I have always felt little doors opening into me, understandings announcing themselves with the same click: When May has fearful visions like paper men folding into her slicing her into thin slices, or when she sees that the faces coming towards her when she crosses at a light in London all look at her out of whiteness, with red eyes of accusation and she is terrified of these visions, one feels for her. She has not been as lucky as people who have needed help and received it, so she has no tools to deal with what has frightened her.
But I know that an outwardly calm life might have more emotion than the person living it can bear. The book is about May and her family and that is all it is about but it seems to cover everything else in the world somehow, from the gratitude of her father who said, You’re the best there is, to the sin of a brother who changes all of their lives. You get love and death and pain and connection and the flash of understanding. How is the book only 154 tiny pages and still so moving? It’s like an extended poem, it is beautiful, and, again, it is the sound of doors opening.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 24, 2019
Sprachlich fand ich es gut, inhaltlich bin ich zwiegespalten.
August 27, 2014
9/10 or 4.5 stars.
This is a short novella but it sure does pack a punch in my opinion. It is a very thought provoking little book. Susan Hill paints with her words a picture of family life in The Beacon, but for one member of the Prime family his childhood appears to be at odds to everyone else's.
The Beacon is a bleak read and conveys well the family life of the Prime family. Isn't it odd how certain outcomes are arrived at. Poor May had her chance of a dfferent life but returned to the family home and became the last member standing almost, looking after her Mother when the others had left.
Following her Mother's death, May tells her other siblings and between them they decide not to tell Frank. Frank is a little bit of a loner and has revealed a different side to the childhood than May, her brother Colin and sister Berenice remember.
As the story is told in both the here and now and the past, we are fed titbits of their lives. At no time do we get any inkling of the life that Frank describes. Is Frank telling the truth about the past or has he made it up to make him money? Have the others decided to forget what happened to him or did it never happen? These are all questions that the reader wants answered.
It's definitely a thought provoking read that will stay with me for a while.
This is a short novella but it sure does pack a punch in my opinion. It is a very thought provoking little book. Susan Hill paints with her words a picture of family life in The Beacon, but for one member of the Prime family his childhood appears to be at odds to everyone else's.
The Beacon is a bleak read and conveys well the family life of the Prime family. Isn't it odd how certain outcomes are arrived at. Poor May had her chance of a dfferent life but returned to the family home and became the last member standing almost, looking after her Mother when the others had left.
Following her Mother's death, May tells her other siblings and between them they decide not to tell Frank. Frank is a little bit of a loner and has revealed a different side to the childhood than May, her brother Colin and sister Berenice remember.
As the story is told in both the here and now and the past, we are fed titbits of their lives. At no time do we get any inkling of the life that Frank describes. Is Frank telling the truth about the past or has he made it up to make him money? Have the others decided to forget what happened to him or did it never happen? These are all questions that the reader wants answered.
It's definitely a thought provoking read that will stay with me for a while.
November 17, 2013
Her writing is so stark and uncompromising. I wanted very much to find this book beautiful, to find the way it was written poetic, because it put so many images into my head. But it wasn't, and I put the poetry there myself, although Susan Hill left me all the right places to put it.
This time last year, I had returned home from a year studying, intellectually and emotionally exhausted and scared of what was going to happen next. If I had read this book then I don't know what it would have done to me. As it is, it felt so raw, May's story hit home in so many little ways, so many things felt so familiar that it felt like Frank's betrayal had also happened to me. And now my heart hurts and I want to pass this book on to as many people as I can, partly to see if it got to me specifically or whether Susan Hill just managed, in a hundred and fifty sparse, short pages, to make me feel like I was the only person in the world who would identify quite like this.
Sometimes I feel like I take stories too personally, but I'm not ashamed of it and I think that's a large part of why I like what I like.
This time last year, I had returned home from a year studying, intellectually and emotionally exhausted and scared of what was going to happen next. If I had read this book then I don't know what it would have done to me. As it is, it felt so raw, May's story hit home in so many little ways, so many things felt so familiar that it felt like Frank's betrayal had also happened to me. And now my heart hurts and I want to pass this book on to as many people as I can, partly to see if it got to me specifically or whether Susan Hill just managed, in a hundred and fifty sparse, short pages, to make me feel like I was the only person in the world who would identify quite like this.
Sometimes I feel like I take stories too personally, but I'm not ashamed of it and I think that's a large part of why I like what I like.
March 26, 2010
I loved the premise of this book and she has a beautiful style and would have given it a four, but I felt really let down by the ending which didn’t resolve anything - ok the argument being that thats what happens in life but this is a book written by an omnipresent author and I was disappointed not to get any answers.
January 27, 2015
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
Frank Prime's quest for fame and fortune is about to spark disaster for his family back at their remote farm. Stars Manon Edwards.
So what??
Frank Prime's quest for fame and fortune is about to spark disaster for his family back at their remote farm. Stars Manon Edwards.
So what??
July 11, 2011
The Beacon is an odd little novel that explores concepts like family, ambition, truth (all that jazz). Riffing off the question of what happens to those implicated by the rise of 'misery memoirs' ('grief porn'?).
At the centre of the book is the strangely stilted May Prime, sister of Frank, who has written a bestseller called about his cruel childhood at a remote North Country farm through the 1950s. In it he accuses his late father of terrible cruelty and his family of collusion.
Although Frank's memoir portrays himself as a victim, the actual novel [The Beacon] revolves around his siblings, who must live with what he has written.
The story itself is rather complex. Although Frank's story essentially amounts to lies, the damage that it has done remains a fact. Moreover, Frank himself is profoundly affected by his inventions, although eventually they take him back 'home' and a confrontation with the family he left behind long before (and sold down the river), culminating in a final chapter layered with irony.
It is a well constructed book, and the descriptions of farm life reminds me a little of Thomas Hardy. The dynamics of prescribed family roles, the need to shake off the past to forge our own identities, concepts of duty, 'wasted lives' and the grinding exhaustion of one's obligations are beautifully sketched.
Well worth your consideration.
At the centre of the book is the strangely stilted May Prime, sister of Frank, who has written a bestseller called about his cruel childhood at a remote North Country farm through the 1950s. In it he accuses his late father of terrible cruelty and his family of collusion.
Although Frank's memoir portrays himself as a victim, the actual novel [The Beacon] revolves around his siblings, who must live with what he has written.
The story itself is rather complex. Although Frank's story essentially amounts to lies, the damage that it has done remains a fact. Moreover, Frank himself is profoundly affected by his inventions, although eventually they take him back 'home' and a confrontation with the family he left behind long before (and sold down the river), culminating in a final chapter layered with irony.
It is a well constructed book, and the descriptions of farm life reminds me a little of Thomas Hardy. The dynamics of prescribed family roles, the need to shake off the past to forge our own identities, concepts of duty, 'wasted lives' and the grinding exhaustion of one's obligations are beautifully sketched.
Well worth your consideration.
June 19, 2009
Review from my blog.
Every time I write anything about Susan Hill I worry that I'm repeating myself. She's just a brilliant writer. Reading her books is like watching an artist create a picture brush stroke by brush stroke, sentence by sentence. She writes with great economy, achieving with ten words what some writers struggle to convey with fifty. The Beacon is about how isolated in themselves people can be, shaped by their memories, perceptions and expectations. Or at least that is how it seemed to me. Susan always leaves room for ambiguity. You are never quite sure who is the villain or the victim or even if it is ever quite that easy to believe things are ever so black and white. This might seem to be a very short novel but even after the last word has been read there is plenty to think about and to wonder about.
Every time I write anything about Susan Hill I worry that I'm repeating myself. She's just a brilliant writer. Reading her books is like watching an artist create a picture brush stroke by brush stroke, sentence by sentence. She writes with great economy, achieving with ten words what some writers struggle to convey with fifty. The Beacon is about how isolated in themselves people can be, shaped by their memories, perceptions and expectations. Or at least that is how it seemed to me. Susan always leaves room for ambiguity. You are never quite sure who is the villain or the victim or even if it is ever quite that easy to believe things are ever so black and white. This might seem to be a very short novel but even after the last word has been read there is plenty to think about and to wonder about.
January 26, 2010
A woman who has cared for her aged mother is also trapped by her own insecurities. Can she break free after her mother dies? How much has brother Frank damaged the family? The now derelict farm and its lack of livestock seem to symbolise May's broken personality.
When we find out the cause of the damage done to the family we do understand why it continues to haunt May and her siblings.
However, this is a book which asks more questions than it gives answers.
When we find out the cause of the damage done to the family we do understand why it continues to haunt May and her siblings.
However, this is a book which asks more questions than it gives answers.
August 21, 2014
I love Susan Hill and this is probably a bit harsh could push to 2.5. Still irks me to pay £7.99 for such a slim book. Anyway. The book. As in A Kind Man she writes about death. She does it well but just not a cheerful read. The whole book just felt so sad. A story about a family but not a close family. Troubled relationships culminating in Frank causing serious upset by writing about his childhood. The impact of this on all of them including him is huge. Not top of my list!
April 20, 2023
This book brought out the nitpicker in me. I got hooked on a few weird repetitions that felt like slip-ups rather than choices e.g. "as happy as children" to describe two different married couples.
It tripped me up that May gets a scholarship to the local grammar school instead of just passing the 11+. If you want to make the point that your protagonist is not just clever but very, very clever there are other ways to do it - school prizes or whatever.
Not my thing.
It tripped me up that May gets a scholarship to the local grammar school instead of just passing the 11+. If you want to make the point that your protagonist is not just clever but very, very clever there are other ways to do it - school prizes or whatever.
Not my thing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 29, 2010
It was a good enough read. The ending was not to my liking. It didn't go anywhere. The book had no clue. The characters were not developing into something, going somewhere. The mystery of the book Frank wrote remained a mystery. I wouldn't recommend reading it, there are other books waiting that will be much more rewarding to read. I will have forgotten about this one pretty soon.
February 24, 2015
A small gem, this story portrays the life of the spinster daughter of a farming family set on a remote English hillside. The novella is so well written that you can almost hear the wind battering the old farmhouse and the reader feels the protagonist’s mixed emotions when following the death of her parents a family secret in revealed…
January 29, 2012
Takes about 2/3 of the book to get going, but when it does it's a lovely and sad depiction of wasted lives.
July 23, 2020
MEINE MEINUNG
Ein Buch, das komplett außerhalb meiner Komfortzone liegt. Es spielt in der Nachkriegszeit, ist realtiv dünn und behandelt die Geschichte einer Familie, was eigentlich gar nicht meinem Geschmack entspricht. Doch eine Freundin hatte es mir empfohlen und als ich es schließlich geschenkt bekommen habe, war ich doch sehr neugierig auf den Inhalt.
Es geht um die Prime-Familie mit ihren 4 Kindern, die auf einem Bauernhof, dem Beacon, in England leben. Die Eltern schuften den ganzen Tag, während die Kinder sich allesamt in verschiedene Richtungen entwickelten. Während May sich nie von ihren Eltern lösen konnte und immer noch auf dem Beacon lebt, sind Berenice, Colin und Frank ausgezogen und haben sich ihr eigenes Leben aufgebaut. Besonders Frank, der nach London ging, anerkannte Journalist wurde und schließlich einen Bestseller-Roman verfasste. In diesem erzählt er von seiner schrecklichen Kindheit, die von Gewalt und Demütigung geprägt wurde und alles deutet daraufhin, dass es sich mehr um eine Biografi, als um einen Roman handelt. Doch seine Geschwister sind empört, es stimmt doch nicht, was er alles erzählt! Oder?
Die 4 Prime Kinder wachsen auf dem Hof ihrer Eltern auf, wo die Arbeit stets an erster Stelle steht. Gleichzeitig behüten die Eltern ihre Kinder und besonders die Mutter möchte ihre Kinder am liebsten nah bei sich behalten, wehe sie werden selbstständig und ziehen aus. Doch nach und nach passiert genau das, bis auf May, die nach einem gescheiterten Versuch in London zurück auf den Beacon zieht.
Die Charaktere sind sehr schön gezeichnet, auch wenn nur bestimmte Aspekte ihrer Eigenschaften und ihres Lebens beleuchtet werden. Es fehlen tiefgehende Details, besonders über Berenice und Colin, doch passte es so zum Stil des Buches, das mit der geringen Seitenzahl auch nicht viel mehr erzählen konnte. Gleichzeitig blieb die ganze Zeit eine gewisse Distanz zu den Charakteren stehen, die wirklich und authentisch aufgezogen wurden.
Wir erfahren hier besonders viel über May und Frank, wobei mich Franks Charakter viel neugieriger gemacht hat. Schon der Klappentext spielt da auf einiges an, weswegen ich ganz gespannt auf seine Sicht der Dinge war.
Über May erfahren wir besonders viel aus ihren Kindheitstagen und dem jungen Erwachsenen-Alter. Darüber hinaus lernen wir sie nicht wirklich neu kennen, vermutlich weil sich ihr Charaktere seit knappen 30 Jahren nicht mehr weiter entwickelt hat. Sie ist auf dem Beacon "gefangen" und traut sich kaum, ein Leben zu versuchen.
Von Frank hingegen erfahren wir viel mehr aus seinem Erwachsenenalter, er entwickelt sich weiter, wächst aus sich hinaus und bleibt doch so, wie er auch als Kind schon war. Er erlebt vieles, macht Karriere und doch jagen in die Dämonen aus seiner Kindheit. Er war ein sehr interessanter Charakter, über den ich gerne auch noch mehr gelesen hätte.
Sprachlich fand ich das Buch ebenfalls sehr gelungen. Es ist in der Er-, Sie-Form geschrieben und ich kann kaum einordnen, ob es sehr fließende Übergänge zwischen den Perspektiven gab oder ob die Erzählform schon eher Richtung allwissend ging. Es ließ sich auf jeden Fall sehr angenehm lesen und hat mich trotz der eher kühleren und distanzierteren Erzählweise sehr begeistern können.
Die Handlung ist genau das, was der Klappentext verspricht und ich weiß nicht, ob er mir eventuell ein wenig zu verraten hat. Denn mehr passierte eigentlich auch nicht. Das Buch war frei von Drama und Überspitzungen und erzählte ganz einfach die Geschichte der Familie, die gleichermaßen ruhig als auch aufregend und spannend war. Obwohl eigentlich nicht viel passiert ist, habe ich das Buch sehr aufmerksam und gebannt gelesen. Es dauerte eine Weile, bis das Geschehen richtig ins Rollen gekommen ist, doch hat mir diese ganze Art der Geschichte wirklich sehr gefallen.
Teilweise hat es sich ein wenig gezogen, aber nie lange, dafür ist das Buch auch wirklich zu dünn gewesen. Ich muss aber wirkcih zugeben, dass ich noch ein wenig etwas anderes erwartet habe. Mehr von Franks Erzählungen und mehr Rückblicke in die Kindheit, die die verschiedenen Perspektiven noch einmal aus der Erwachsenensicht beleuchten. Aber das ist meine enizige Kritik.
Und obwohl einige hier in ihren Rezensionen schreiben, dass sie das Ende nicht mögen, muss ich zugeben, dass ich es sehr mochte. Es passt perfekt zum Inhalt, wurde schön geschrieben und hat mich das Buch tatsächlich nicht enttäuscht zur Seite legen lassen.
FAZIT
Ein außergewöhnlicher Roman über eine Familie, die aus zwei Perspektiven wahr genommen wurde. Der Inhalt war unaufregend und fesselnd zugleich und wurde sprachlich sehr schön gestaltet. Mir fehlten noch ein paar Kleinigkeiten, sodass ich die volle Punktzahl hätte geben können, aber insgesamt habe ich das Buch sehr gerne gelesen.
Ein Buch, das komplett außerhalb meiner Komfortzone liegt. Es spielt in der Nachkriegszeit, ist realtiv dünn und behandelt die Geschichte einer Familie, was eigentlich gar nicht meinem Geschmack entspricht. Doch eine Freundin hatte es mir empfohlen und als ich es schließlich geschenkt bekommen habe, war ich doch sehr neugierig auf den Inhalt.
Es geht um die Prime-Familie mit ihren 4 Kindern, die auf einem Bauernhof, dem Beacon, in England leben. Die Eltern schuften den ganzen Tag, während die Kinder sich allesamt in verschiedene Richtungen entwickelten. Während May sich nie von ihren Eltern lösen konnte und immer noch auf dem Beacon lebt, sind Berenice, Colin und Frank ausgezogen und haben sich ihr eigenes Leben aufgebaut. Besonders Frank, der nach London ging, anerkannte Journalist wurde und schließlich einen Bestseller-Roman verfasste. In diesem erzählt er von seiner schrecklichen Kindheit, die von Gewalt und Demütigung geprägt wurde und alles deutet daraufhin, dass es sich mehr um eine Biografi, als um einen Roman handelt. Doch seine Geschwister sind empört, es stimmt doch nicht, was er alles erzählt! Oder?
Die 4 Prime Kinder wachsen auf dem Hof ihrer Eltern auf, wo die Arbeit stets an erster Stelle steht. Gleichzeitig behüten die Eltern ihre Kinder und besonders die Mutter möchte ihre Kinder am liebsten nah bei sich behalten, wehe sie werden selbstständig und ziehen aus. Doch nach und nach passiert genau das, bis auf May, die nach einem gescheiterten Versuch in London zurück auf den Beacon zieht.
Die Charaktere sind sehr schön gezeichnet, auch wenn nur bestimmte Aspekte ihrer Eigenschaften und ihres Lebens beleuchtet werden. Es fehlen tiefgehende Details, besonders über Berenice und Colin, doch passte es so zum Stil des Buches, das mit der geringen Seitenzahl auch nicht viel mehr erzählen konnte. Gleichzeitig blieb die ganze Zeit eine gewisse Distanz zu den Charakteren stehen, die wirklich und authentisch aufgezogen wurden.
Wir erfahren hier besonders viel über May und Frank, wobei mich Franks Charakter viel neugieriger gemacht hat. Schon der Klappentext spielt da auf einiges an, weswegen ich ganz gespannt auf seine Sicht der Dinge war.
Über May erfahren wir besonders viel aus ihren Kindheitstagen und dem jungen Erwachsenen-Alter. Darüber hinaus lernen wir sie nicht wirklich neu kennen, vermutlich weil sich ihr Charaktere seit knappen 30 Jahren nicht mehr weiter entwickelt hat. Sie ist auf dem Beacon "gefangen" und traut sich kaum, ein Leben zu versuchen.
Von Frank hingegen erfahren wir viel mehr aus seinem Erwachsenenalter, er entwickelt sich weiter, wächst aus sich hinaus und bleibt doch so, wie er auch als Kind schon war. Er erlebt vieles, macht Karriere und doch jagen in die Dämonen aus seiner Kindheit. Er war ein sehr interessanter Charakter, über den ich gerne auch noch mehr gelesen hätte.
Sprachlich fand ich das Buch ebenfalls sehr gelungen. Es ist in der Er-, Sie-Form geschrieben und ich kann kaum einordnen, ob es sehr fließende Übergänge zwischen den Perspektiven gab oder ob die Erzählform schon eher Richtung allwissend ging. Es ließ sich auf jeden Fall sehr angenehm lesen und hat mich trotz der eher kühleren und distanzierteren Erzählweise sehr begeistern können.
Die Handlung ist genau das, was der Klappentext verspricht und ich weiß nicht, ob er mir eventuell ein wenig zu verraten hat. Denn mehr passierte eigentlich auch nicht. Das Buch war frei von Drama und Überspitzungen und erzählte ganz einfach die Geschichte der Familie, die gleichermaßen ruhig als auch aufregend und spannend war. Obwohl eigentlich nicht viel passiert ist, habe ich das Buch sehr aufmerksam und gebannt gelesen. Es dauerte eine Weile, bis das Geschehen richtig ins Rollen gekommen ist, doch hat mir diese ganze Art der Geschichte wirklich sehr gefallen.
Teilweise hat es sich ein wenig gezogen, aber nie lange, dafür ist das Buch auch wirklich zu dünn gewesen. Ich muss aber wirkcih zugeben, dass ich noch ein wenig etwas anderes erwartet habe. Mehr von Franks Erzählungen und mehr Rückblicke in die Kindheit, die die verschiedenen Perspektiven noch einmal aus der Erwachsenensicht beleuchten. Aber das ist meine enizige Kritik.
Und obwohl einige hier in ihren Rezensionen schreiben, dass sie das Ende nicht mögen, muss ich zugeben, dass ich es sehr mochte. Es passt perfekt zum Inhalt, wurde schön geschrieben und hat mich das Buch tatsächlich nicht enttäuscht zur Seite legen lassen.
FAZIT
Ein außergewöhnlicher Roman über eine Familie, die aus zwei Perspektiven wahr genommen wurde. Der Inhalt war unaufregend und fesselnd zugleich und wurde sprachlich sehr schön gestaltet. Mir fehlten noch ein paar Kleinigkeiten, sodass ich die volle Punktzahl hätte geben können, aber insgesamt habe ich das Buch sehr gerne gelesen.
August 17, 2024
Deceptively short, with prose terse and direct, Hill gives us a family story of deceit, betrayal, misunderstanding and suppressed emotion. People just "get on with it" within this farm family in which no character finds it possible to relate to another. The story is rich; Hill fully imbues the inner lives of her characters with just a few well crafted words. No extraneous emotion or verbosity.
May 30, 2019
A very short and easily read book - more a short story, really. I finished it feeling left a bit high and dry. Just noticed it’s called a novella. Usual good writing from Susan Hill, but if you prefer a “proper ending “, you might be disappointed.
June 24, 2019
A short read at only 150 or so pages. I love these little Susan Hill short stories that I can read in a few short hours and then spend the rest of the day with it playing round my mind, making me think below the surface.
Starts off very slow - too slow. Took a good part of the book to get into the story line by which point you see there is a very small portion left, so I suppose in that way it leaves you wanting more.
Its about wasted potential & broken family bonds.
Susan Hill has skill when it comes to unsettling family dynamics.
Starts off very slow - too slow. Took a good part of the book to get into the story line by which point you see there is a very small portion left, so I suppose in that way it leaves you wanting more.
Its about wasted potential & broken family bonds.
Susan Hill has skill when it comes to unsettling family dynamics.
November 6, 2021
Ganz interessante Geschichte einer Familie , jedoch wurden mir die Beweggründe der einzelnen Personen nicht klar, das war mir alles nicht ausreichend ausgearbeitet. Wenig nachvollziehbar - was letztlich leider dazu führte, dass das Interessante an der Geschichte bei mir im Unglauben endete. Wieso?? Warum?? Wieso wendete sich der eine Sohn gegen seine ganze Familie auf diese Art? Die kurz angerisse Erklärung war absolut nicht ausreichend. Schade.
August 15, 2016
I was nervous at this choice by my book group, having previously read Dolly and been seriously unimpressed. Luckily, this is a much better book, well thought out and well written.
Warning - complete spoilers below!
I found it quite an uncomfortable read, in a good way. For a long time I was annoyed by how passive and lacklustre May was, drifting through her dull life. Then a possible reason is introduced, and for me it brought some interesting questions.
Does something have to have happened to someone to make them shy away from fulfilling their potential?
What degrees are there of "something" having happened? Where is the line between acceptable and not acceptable treatment?
Do we need to present emotional abuse as physical abuse in order for other people to understand its effect?
For me, it was good that we're never definitively told what happened. False memories of childhood abuse can happen, but not nearly as often as the media and fiction might lead us to think. The phenomenon can be very unhelpful with the (sadly) many real cases of recovering suppressed memories. Lack of evidence years later is a common issue, as is selective amnesia, minimisation and denial by others in the family. I think the lack of resolution in the book is a good representation of what can happen.
Where I think the book fell down a little was in not creating more uncertainty in the reader. Family life was presented quite blandly where some amibiguity could have been introduced. May's terrors occurring only when away from the family home seemed odd to me, as a potential symptom of family trauma. Without more things to think about, the sense of doubt ended up relying on being told that Frank started doubting and May started doubting, more than the reader feeling that doubt themselves.
But it was a good book, both as a story and in terms of exploring a theme. And it was the right length for what it had to say, in comparison to many novels which I think could (and should) have been novellas.
Warning - complete spoilers below!
I found it quite an uncomfortable read, in a good way. For a long time I was annoyed by how passive and lacklustre May was, drifting through her dull life. Then a possible reason is introduced, and for me it brought some interesting questions.
Does something have to have happened to someone to make them shy away from fulfilling their potential?
What degrees are there of "something" having happened? Where is the line between acceptable and not acceptable treatment?
Do we need to present emotional abuse as physical abuse in order for other people to understand its effect?
For me, it was good that we're never definitively told what happened. False memories of childhood abuse can happen, but not nearly as often as the media and fiction might lead us to think. The phenomenon can be very unhelpful with the (sadly) many real cases of recovering suppressed memories. Lack of evidence years later is a common issue, as is selective amnesia, minimisation and denial by others in the family. I think the lack of resolution in the book is a good representation of what can happen.
Where I think the book fell down a little was in not creating more uncertainty in the reader. Family life was presented quite blandly where some amibiguity could have been introduced. May's terrors occurring only when away from the family home seemed odd to me, as a potential symptom of family trauma. Without more things to think about, the sense of doubt ended up relying on being told that Frank started doubting and May started doubting, more than the reader feeling that doubt themselves.
But it was a good book, both as a story and in terms of exploring a theme. And it was the right length for what it had to say, in comparison to many novels which I think could (and should) have been novellas.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2017
Purtroppo non ho trascritto nessuna citazione da questa novella, anche se ci sarebbero state molte occasioni (ma quando leggo lontana dal pc, di solito sono così concentrata che non mi scomodo nemmeno a tenere vicini gli amati segnapagina…)
The Beacon racconta la storia di una famiglia: quattro fratelli e sorelle (Colin, Frank, May, Berenice) crescono in una fattoria insieme ai genitori, John e Bertha. Colin e Berenice si sposano e rimangono in zona. Frank, da sempre solitario e misterioso, si trasferisce a Londra dove trova la sua strada come giornalista. May è la sorella zitella, che ha sempre vissuto con i genitori dopo un tentativo di un anno di studi a Londra. La morte di Bertha diventa un’occasione per tornare indietro nel tempo e riflettere sulle occasioni mancate, l’impossibilità di conoscere veramente qualcuno e un tradimento enorme.
Susan Hill è un genio. Non posso ancora dare un giudizio sui suoi romanzi gotici (ho letto solo, molti anni fa, La donna in nero) ma dopo A Kind Mane Howards End Is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home, posso tranquillamente annoverarla tra le mie scrittrici preferite. The Beacon rende in modo preciso, poetico e conciso la dura bellezza della vita di fattoria e il fermento della grande città. In poche pagine crea un mondo, dei personaggi vivissimi e degli intrecci coinvolgenti. Fin da subito si capisce che Frank è stato escluso dalla famiglia molti anni prima ma ci vogliono molte pagine per arrivare alla spiegazione. Libro molto triste e toccante.
The Beacon racconta la storia di una famiglia: quattro fratelli e sorelle (Colin, Frank, May, Berenice) crescono in una fattoria insieme ai genitori, John e Bertha. Colin e Berenice si sposano e rimangono in zona. Frank, da sempre solitario e misterioso, si trasferisce a Londra dove trova la sua strada come giornalista. May è la sorella zitella, che ha sempre vissuto con i genitori dopo un tentativo di un anno di studi a Londra. La morte di Bertha diventa un’occasione per tornare indietro nel tempo e riflettere sulle occasioni mancate, l’impossibilità di conoscere veramente qualcuno e un tradimento enorme.
Susan Hill è un genio. Non posso ancora dare un giudizio sui suoi romanzi gotici (ho letto solo, molti anni fa, La donna in nero) ma dopo A Kind Mane Howards End Is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home, posso tranquillamente annoverarla tra le mie scrittrici preferite. The Beacon rende in modo preciso, poetico e conciso la dura bellezza della vita di fattoria e il fermento della grande città. In poche pagine crea un mondo, dei personaggi vivissimi e degli intrecci coinvolgenti. Fin da subito si capisce che Frank è stato escluso dalla famiglia molti anni prima ma ci vogliono molte pagine per arrivare alla spiegazione. Libro molto triste e toccante.
June 1, 2015
The story of the Prime family and the Beacon farm is a subtly disturbing tale of failed personal growth and the pervasive influence of the past. Susan Hill is a master storyteller and in "The Beacon" she excells in the creation of an atmosphere of utter and "harmeless" stillness that permeates the nameless village where the Beacon is located. The farm is neither presented as a bucolic scenario or a romantic fantasy about countrylife, and that starkly realistic portrayal is one of the novel's greatest achievements. It makes the finale fate of the Prime family all too believable, despite their efforts to draw away from the family farm, whether it is May's and Frank's separate attempts to break wholly free or Colin's and Berenice's lukewarm changes towards an improved (but not too improved as to be wholly different) version of the past. May's urban terrors that maul her attempts to get away and become a citizen of the modern world and Frank's fake/(re)created memories of his childhood by means of which he attempts to destroy his insipid childhood at the farm finally prove to be ineffectual against the overwhelming presence of the farm itself and the room where their mother dies. The novel seems to rise the question if we can ever break free of our past and our legacy. Is the past a burden or a curse that's impossible to get away from? Susan Hill is no stranger to writing tales that are both enrapturing and disturbing, tales that dare to pose unpleasant questions and that leave a deep imprint in our memories, and "The Beacon" is no exception.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 6, 2014
Dramatisation by Anita Sullivan of the novel by Susan Hill.
Frank's misery memoir has been published and is a huge success. Back at the farm, now that mother has died, May must inform her siblings.
May Prime ...... Manon Edwards
Frank Prime ...... Steffan Rhodri
Colin Prime ...... Iestyn Jones
Elsa ...... Eiry Thomas
Berenice Prime ...... Siriol Jenkins
Radio Interviewer ...... Mark Lawson
Doctor Ford ...... Richard Mitchley
TV Interviewer ...... Sian Williams
TV Interviewer ...... Kirsty Wark
Taxi Driver ...... Dick Bradnum
The boringly unfunny version of 'something nasty in the woodshed', with Primes instead of Starkadders.
Frank's misery memoir has been published and is a huge success. Back at the farm, now that mother has died, May must inform her siblings.
May Prime ...... Manon Edwards
Frank Prime ...... Steffan Rhodri
Colin Prime ...... Iestyn Jones
Elsa ...... Eiry Thomas
Berenice Prime ...... Siriol Jenkins
Radio Interviewer ...... Mark Lawson
Doctor Ford ...... Richard Mitchley
TV Interviewer ...... Sian Williams
TV Interviewer ...... Kirsty Wark
Taxi Driver ...... Dick Bradnum
The boringly unfunny version of 'something nasty in the woodshed', with Primes instead of Starkadders.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2021
I read this book in one sitting. Not only because it was a short read but because it was utterly compelling. A good pace throughout with small indications very occasionally of what was to come. It’s about a farming family in the north of England. One sibling leaves to live in London for about a year, another leaves for a fairly long time and causes a most unpleasant situation as a result of a rather selfish pursuit. I’m still not sure whether I read too much into the final sentence but I thoroughly enjoyed the book for its intrigue.
July 2, 2022
A tightly woven, detailed writing of a childhood that come under scrutiny over their adult years. The four siblings and their characters are simply but quickly unfolded to the reader. Their lives as siblings became distant and disconnected. May was such a restricted woman, bound by what others expected of her and herself without any clear vision of what her life could be. Did Frank tell the truth? The ending is ambiguous but makes you wonder what horrors may have occurred?
February 13, 2011
Puzzling story about a family with 4 children with one of them committing a terrible tragedy of untruth against the others. Story moves back and forth from early times to older and is compelling in the way it takes your mind in various thought patterns. Outcome is surprising and left me confused. Author writes with skill and picks the reader up on her train of thought for a good ride.
September 7, 2011
Recently discovered Susan Hill as an author and this is the second book of hers I've read, not too dissimilar to 'A Kind Man' in the way it is written, interesting study on character and the dynamics of family and the effect of things left unsaid. This story also an interesting perspective on using family members or real people as fodder in fiction. Looking forward to reading more of her.
June 17, 2018
Atmospheric and disturbing. I got to the end, and found myself doubting what I had read: those early scenes - was there something in there to back up Frank's claims? Even the mother's will - what did that show about her attitudes to the four children?
The power of the mind to create new realities... how do we know that our experience was as we remember it?
The power of the mind to create new realities... how do we know that our experience was as we remember it?
June 3, 2009
A short but absolutely brilliant book. A subtle and atmospheric story which leaves many questions unanswered but that only makes it all the more thought-provoking. An excellent choice for a book club.
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