Susan Hill

Last updated

Dame

Susan Hill

DBE
BornSusan Elizabeth Hill
(1942-02-05) 5 February 1942 (age 82)
Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England
OccupationAuthor
NationalityBritish
Alma mater King's College London
GenreFiction, non-fiction
Notable works The Woman in Black
The Mist in the Mirror
I'm the King of the Castle
Spouse Stanley Wells
(m. 1975; sep. 20??)
PartnerBarbara Machin (2013–2016)
Children3

Dame Susan Elizabeth Hill, Lady Wells DBE (born 5 February 1942) is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include The Woman in Black , which has been adapted in multiple ways, The Mist in the Mirror , and I'm the King of the Castle , for which she received the Somerset Maugham Award in 1971. She also won the Whitbread Novel Award in 1972 for The Bird of Night, which was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Contents

She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours [1] [2] and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours, [3] [4] both for services to literature.

Early life and education

Hill was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. Her home town was later referred to in her novel A Change for the Better (1969) and in some short stories like 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 [5] 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. [6]

Writing career

By the time she took her A levels, she had already written her first novel, The Enclosure, which was published by Hutchinson in her first year at university. [7]

Her next novel Gentleman and Ladies was published in 1968 and was runner-up for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. [8] 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 the Year , all written and published between 1968 and 1974.

In 2004, Hill began a series of crime novels featuring detective Simon Serrailler.

Publishing

In the 1990s, Hill founded her own publishing company, Long Barn Books, [9] which has published two Simon Serrailler short stories and The Magic Apple Tree, all by Susan Hill, as well as The Dream Coat by Adele Geras, Colouring In by Angela Huth and Counting My Chickens by Deborah Devonshire. [10]

Style and adaptations

Hill's novels are written in a descriptive gothic style, especially her ghost story The Woman in Black , published in 1983. She has expressed an interest in the traditional English ghost story, which relies on suspense and atmosphere to create its impact, similar to the classic ghost stories by Montague Rhodes James and Daphne du Maurier. [11] The novel was turned into a play in 1987 and continues to run in the West End of London, joining the group of plays that have run for over twenty years. It was also made into a television film in 1989, and a film by Hammer Film Productions in 2012; the latter, starring Daniel Radcliffe, was the most successful British horror film in 32 years as of 2013. [12] Hill wrote another ghost story with similar ingredients, The Mist in the Mirror in 1992, and wrote the screenplay for a sequel to The Woman in Black film in 2012, that film being released in 2014.

She wrote a sequel to Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca entitled Mrs de Winter in 1993.

Personal life

Hill was engaged to David Lepine, organist at Coventry Cathedral, but he died of a heart attack in 1972. [13] In 1975, she married Shakespeare scholar and professor Stanley Wells, and they moved to Stratford upon Avon. Their first daughter, author Jessica Ruston, was born in 1977, and their third daughter, Clemency, was born in 1985. A middle daughter, Imogen, was born prematurely, and died at the age of five weeks. [12] Wells was chairperson of the Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust for 20 years. The couple later lived in Chipping Campden. [12]

In 2013, it was reported that Hill had left her husband and moved in with Barbara Machin, creator of Waking The Dead , who adapted Hill's crime fiction novels featuring detective Simon Serrailler and Hill's The Small Hand . [12] However, she said that she was 'still married' to Wells in 2015. [14] In 2016, Machin left Hill for comedian Rhona Cameron.[ citation needed ]

Works

Novels

Short story collections

Chapbook

Non fiction

Plays

Children's stories

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Carter</span> English novelist

Angela Olive Pearce, who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picaresque works. She is mainly known for her book The Bloody Chamber (1979). In 1984, her short story "The Company of Wolves" was adapted into a film of the same name. In 2008, The Times ranked Carter tenth in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". In 2012, Nights at the Circus was selected as the best ever winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. S. Byatt</span> British writer (1936–2023)

Dame Antonia Susan Duffy, known professionally by her former married name, A. S. Byatt, was an English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kamala Markandaya</span> British Indian novelist and journalist

Kamala Markandaya, pseudonym of Kamala Purnaiya, married name Kamala Taylor, was a British Indian novelist and journalist. She has been called "one of the most important Indian novelists writing in English".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatto & Windus</span> British book publisher

Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business partner Andrew Chatto and poet William Edward Windus. The company was purchased by Random House in 1987 and is now a sub-imprint of Vintage Books within the Penguin UK division.

Richard Thomas Mabey is a writer and broadcaster, chiefly on the relations between nature and culture.

(Robert) Geoffrey Trease FRSL was a prolific British writer who published 113 books, mainly for children, between 1934 and 1997, starting with Bows Against the Barons and ending with Cloak for a Spy in 1997. His work has been translated into 20 languages. His grandfather was a historian, and was one of the main influences on his work. He is best known for the children's novel Cue for Treason (1940).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blake Morrison</span> English poet and author (born 1950)

Philip Blake Morrison FRSL is an English poet and author who has published in a wide range of fiction and non-fiction genres. His greatest success came with the publication of his memoirs And When Did You Last See Your Father? (1993), which won the J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography. He has also written a study of the murder of James Bulger, As If. Since 2003, Morrison has been Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marina Warner</span> English novelist, short story writer, historian and mythographer

Dame Marina Sarah Warner, is an English historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth. She has written for many publications, including The London Review of Books, the New Statesman, Sunday Times and Vogue. She has been a visiting professor, given lectures and taught on the faculties of many universities.

Lynne Reid Banks was a British author of books for children and adults, including The Indian in the Cupboard, which has sold over 15 million copies and has been successfully adapted to film. Her first novel, The L-Shaped Room, published in 1960, was an instant and lasting best seller. It was later made into a movie of the same name and led to two sequels, The Backward Shadow and Two is Lonely. Banks also wrote a biography of the Brontë family, entitled Dark Quartet, and a sequel about Charlotte Brontë, Path to the Silent Country.

Michael Foreman is a British author and illustrator, one of the best-known and most prolific creators of children's books. He won the 1982 and 1989 Kate Greenaway Medals for British children's book illustration and he was a runner-up five times.

Gillian Tindall is a British writer and historian. Among her books are City of Gold: The Biography of Bombay (1992) and Celestine: Voices from a French Village (1997). Her novel Fly Away Home won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1972. From the 1960s to the early 1990s, Tindall worked as a journalist, writing stories for The Guardian, the Evening Standard, The Times, and The Independent – and for many years she was a regular guest on the BBC Radio 3 arts discussion programme, Critics' Forum. Since 1963 she has lived in Kentish Town, North London.

<i>The Albatross</i> Book by Susan Hill

The Albatross is a novella written by Susan Hill, first appearing in the collection The Albatross and Other Stories published by Hamish Hamilton in 1971. It won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1972. It appeared as a standalone book published by Penguin Books in 2000. It is studied in GCSE English as an example of the best of modern women's writing.

This is a list of the published fiction and non-fiction works of British author Susan Hill.

<i>The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read</i> Book by Susan Hill

The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read is a short story collection by British writer Susan Hill published in 2003 by Chatto & Windus (hardback) and the following year in paperback by Vintage Books. It "received long and favourable reviews in The Guardian, The Spectator, The Sunday Times and The Times Literary Supplement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naomi Lewis</span> British author and critic

Naomi Lewis was a British poet, essayist, literary critic, anthologist and reteller of stories for children. She is particularly noted for her translations of the Danish children's author, Hans Christian Andersen, as well as for her critical reviews and essays. She was a recipient of the Eleanor Farjeon Award. Lewis was an advocate of animal rights and was known to rescue injured pigeons and stray cats.

<i>The Beacon</i> (novel)

The Beacon, is a novel by English author Susan Hill, first published in 2008 by Chatto and Windus and in paperback the following year by Vintage Books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet McNeill</span> Irish novelist and playwright

Janet McNeill was a prolific Irish novelist and playwright. Author of more than 20 children's books, as well as adult novels, plays, and two opera libretti, she was best known for her children's comic fantasy series My Friend Specs McCann.

Liz Berry is a British poet. She has published three pamphlets and two full-length poetry collections. Her debut collection, Black Country, was named poetry book of the year by several publications, including The Guardian.

Faith Jaques (1923–1997) was a British illustrator of the late twentieth century notable for her work as a children's book author, illustrator, artist, stamp designer and advocate for artists' rights over their work.

References

  1. ↑ "No. 60173". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 2012. p. 7.
  2. ↑ "CBE". BBC News. 15 June 2012. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "No. 63135". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 October 2020. p. B9.
  4. ↑ "Birthday Honours 2020: Marcus Rashford and Joe Wicks honoured alongside key workers". BBC News. 10 October 2020. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  5. ↑ "About Susan - Autobiography of author Susan Hill". Archived from the original on 29 May 2008. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
  6. ↑ "Biography (part 2)". susan-hill.com. Archived from the original on 29 May 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ↑ Freeman, Hadley (18 October 2003). "Cotswold chameleon". The Guardian (UK). Guardian News and Media Ltd. Archived from the original on 24 March 2005. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
  8. ↑ Foreword to A Change for the Better , Penguin 1980 edition.
  9. ↑ Hill, Susan: The Beacon, dust jacket, Chatto & Windus, 2008.
  10. ↑ "About Long Barn Books". longbarnbooks.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  11. ↑ "The Woman in Black". susanhill.org.uk. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Husband of The Woman in Black author Susan Hill exits, stage left". The Daily Telegraph. 8 December 2013. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "The author of the most celebrated ghost story of modern times talks about wickedness, her dark new novella – and why she would never read the latest Man Booker winner", The Guardian, 25 Oct 2013 Archived 25 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  14. ↑ Hill, Susan. "Twitter post". Twitter. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "About us". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  16. ↑ DennisonMathew, Mathew (26 October 2013). "trapped by the black hole". The Times.
  17. ↑ "The Custodian by Susan Hill". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.