Susan Hill
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KittyRainbow
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'''Susan Hill''' (born [[February 5]], [[1942]]) is a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[author]] of [[fiction]] and [[non-fiction]] works. Her novels include the ''[[The Woman in Black]]'', ''The Mist in the Mirror'' and ''I'm the King of the Castle'' for which she received the [[Somerset Maugham Award]] in 1971.
==History==
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 [[automobile|car]] and [[aircraft]] factories. Hill took [[Advanced Level (UK)|A levels]] in [[English studies|English]], [[French language|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 (publisher)|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".<ref>{{cite news| last =Freeman |first =Hadley|title =Cotswold chameleon | work =The Guardian (UK) | publisher =Guardian News and Media Ltd | date =2003-10-18 | url =http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1065267,00.html | accessdate =2008-03-20 }}</ref>
Her next novel ''Gentlemen 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 (book)|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|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]],{{Fact|date=March 2008}} which has published one work of fiction per year.
==Published works==
{{details|List of works by Susan Hill}}
Hill's novels are written in a descriptive [[Gothic novel|gothic]] style, especially her ghost story ''[[The Woman in Black]]'' which was written in 1982. She has expressed an interest in the traditional English ghost story which relies on suspense and atmosphere to create its impact{{Fact|date=March 2008}}, similar to the classic ghost stories by [[Montague Rhodes James]] and [[Daphne du Maurier]]. The novel was turned into a play in 1987 and ran for an extended season in the [[West End theatre|West End]] of London. It was also filmed for a [[TV movie]] in 1989. She wrote another ghost story with similar ingredients, ''The Mist in the Mirror'' in 1992, and a sequel to du Maurier's ''[[Rebecca (novel)|Rebecca]]'' entitled ''Mrs De Winter'' in 1993.
Since 2004, Hill has begun a strand of crime novels featuring Detective Simon Serailler, titled ''[[The Various Haunts of Men]]'' (2004), ''The Pure in Heart'' (2005) and ''The Risk of Darkness'' (2006).
==Awards==
*1971 [[Somerset Maugham Award]] ''I'm the King of the Castle''
*1972 [[Whitbread Novel Award]] '' The Bird of Night''
*1988 [[Nestlé Smarties Book Prize]] (Gold Award) (6-8 years category) ''Can It Be True?: A Christmas Story''
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.susan-hill.com Susan Hill's official web site]
* {{contemporary writers|id=192}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Susan}}
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Scarborough, North Yorkshire]]
[[Category:English fantasy writers]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College London]]
[[Category:English women writers]]
[[Category:British child writers]]
[[it:Susan Hill]]
[[ja:スーザン・ヒル]]