Author | Susan Hill |
---|---|
Language | English |
Published | 1972 Hamish Hamilton (UK) 1973 Saturday Review Press (US) |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Pages | 186 |
ISBN | 0-241-02258-4 |
The Bird of Night is a 1972 novel by Susan Hill.
In 1972, the book won the Whitbread Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
Susan Hill commented in 2006, "A novel of mine was shortlisted for Booker and won the Whitbread Prize for Fiction. It was a book I have never rated. I don't think it works, though there are a few good things in it. I don't believe in the characters or the story." [1]
Francis Croft was a great poet but suffered from bouts of madness. His companion Harvey Lawson tried to protect him for 20 years, together they spent time in Venice and then Francis travelled to America. On his return his condition worsened leading to his suicide. Harvey then burnt all his papers to shut out an inquisitive world. [2]
Star-News is positive "The intriguing saga of Francis and his journey through life, and madness, is a story worthy of the finest storyteller. The emphasis on finest detail and the close relation between a character's mental condition and physical age provide an engrossing chronicle...A part of the reason for the ability of Hill to convey the madness theme is the presence of a second character, Harvey Lawson. The agony of Francis is shared and depicted in the memory and writing of Lawson. [3]
Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge was an English writer. She was primarily known for her works of psychological fiction, often macabre tales set among the English working class. She won the Whitbread Awards prize for best novel in 1977 and 1996, and was nominated five times for the Booker Prize. She was described in 2007 as a national treasure. In 2008, The Times named Bainbridge on their list of the "50 greatest British writers since 1945".
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Dame Susan Elizabeth Hill, Lady Wells is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include The Woman in Black, which has been adapted for stage and screen, 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.
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