Susan Hill

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{{cite web|title = About Susan - Autobiography of author Susan Hill|url = http://www.susan-hill.com/pages/about_susan/biography.asp|access-date = 2008-07-28 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080529013049/http://www.susan-hill.com/pages/about_susan/biography.asp |archive-date = 2008-05-29}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.susan-hill.com/pages/about_susan/biography2.asp |title=Biography (part 2) |publisher=susan-hill.com |access-date=10 March 2013 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529004135/http://www.susan-hill.com/pages/about_susan/biography2.asp |archive-date=29 May 2008 }}

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.{{cite news | last =Freeman | first =Hadley | title =Cotswold chameleon | work =The Guardian (UK) | publisher =Guardian News and Media Ltd | date =18 October 2003 | url =http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1065267,00.html | access-date =2008-03-20 | archive-date =24 March 2005 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20050324223516/http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1065267,00.html | url-status =live }}

Her next novel Gentleman and Ladies was published in 1968 and was runner-up for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.Foreword to A Change for the Better, Penguin 1980 edition. 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 2008, Hill began a series of crime novels featuring detective Simon Serrailler.

In the 1990s, Hill founded her own publishing company, Long Barn Books,Hill, Susan: The Beacon, dust jacket, Chatto & Windus, 2008. which has published two Simon Serrailler short stories and The Magic Apple Tree, all by Susan Hill, as well as The Dream Coat by Adèle Geras, Colouring In by Angela Huth, and Counting My Chickens by Deborah Devonshire.{{cite web|url=http://www.longbarnbooks.co.uk/about-long-barn-books|title=About Long Barn Books|work=longbarnbooks.co.uk|access-date=13 March 2019|archive-date=1 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901170713/http://longbarnbooks.co.uk/about-long-barn-books|url-status=dead}}

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 M. R. James and Daphne du Maurier.{{cite web|url=http://susanhill.org.uk/woman-black|title=The Woman in Black|work=susanhill.org.uk|access-date=14 January 2016|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080652/http://susanhill.org.uk/woman-black|url-status=live}} The novel was turned into a play in 1987 which ran until 2022 in the West End of London. 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. 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.

Hill was engaged to David Lepine, organist at Coventry Cathedral, but he died of a heart attack in 1972.[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/25/susan-hill-books-interview "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] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825234928/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/25/susan-hill-books-interview |date=25 August 2016 }} Retrieved 2016-07-03. 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/10502830/Husband-of-The-Woman-in-Black-author-Susan-Hill-exits-stage-left.html|title=Husband of The Woman in Black author Susan Hill exits, stage left|date=8 December 2013|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=7 March 2015|archive-date=27 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227004504/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/10502830/Husband-of-The-Woman-in-Black-author-Susan-Hill-exits-stage-left.html|url-status=live}} Wells was chairperson of the Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust for 20 years. The couple later lived in Chipping Campden.

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. However, she said that she was "still married" to Wells in 2015.{{cite web|last1=Hill|first1=Susan|title=Twitter post|url=https://twitter.com/susanhillwriter/status/632920309725831168|website=Twitter|access-date=5 December 2015|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305135731/https://twitter.com/susanhillwriter/status/632920309725831168|url-status=live}} In 2016, Machin left Hill for comedian Rhona Cameron.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

• The Enclosure, Hutchinson 1961
• Do Me a Favour, Hutchinson 1963
• Gentleman and Ladies, Hamish Hamilton 1968; Penguin Paperback 1970
• A Change for the Better, Hamish Hamilton 1969; Penguin Paperback 1971
• I'm the King of the Castle, Hamish Hamilton 1970; Penguin Paperback 1972
• Strange Meeting, Hamish Hamilton 1971; Penguin Paperback 1974
• The Bird of Night, Hamish Hamilton 1972; Penguin Paperback 1973
• In the Springtime of the Year, Hamish Hamilton 1973; Penguin Paperback 1974
• The Woman in Black - A Ghost Story, Hamish Hamilton Penguin Paperback 1983; Mandarin Paperback 1989; Vintage Paperback 1999
• Air and Angels, Sinclair Stevenson 1991; Mandarin Paperback 1993; Vintage 1999
• The Mist in the Mirror: A Ghost Story, Hamish Hamilton 1992; Mandarin paperback 1993; Vintage 1999
• Mrs de Winter, Sinclair Stevenson 1993; Mandarin Paperback 1994; Vintage 1999
• The Service of Clouds, Chatto & Windus 1998; Vintage 1999
• Simon Serrailler crime novels:
• The Various Haunts of Men, Vintage, 2005
• The Pure in Heart, Vintage, 2006
• The Risk of Darkness, Chatto & Windus, 2006
• The Vows of Silence, Chatto & Windus, 2008
• Shadows in the Streets, 2010
• The Betrayal of Trust, 2011
• A Question of Identity, 2012
• The Soul of Discretion, 2014{{Cite web|url=http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/editions/the-soul-of-discretion/9780701187644|title=About us|access-date=3 October 2023|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924111716/http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/editions/the-soul-of-discretion/9780701187644|url-status=live}}
• The Comforts of Home, 2018
• The Benefit of Hindsight, 2019
• A Change of Circumstance, 2021
• The Sound of Footsteps, 2025
• The Man in the Picture: A Ghost Story, 2007 Profile Books
• The Beacon, 2008 Chatto and Windus
• The Small Hand: A Ghost Story, 2010. Profile Books
• A Kind Man, 2011
• Dolly: A Ghost Story, 2012. Profile Books Ltd.
• Black Sheep, 2013. Chatto and Windus (144p){{cite news|last=DennisonMathew|first=Mathew|title=trapped by the black hole|newspaper=The Times|date=26 October 2013}}
• From the Heart, 2017 Chatto and Windus

• The Albatross and Other Stories, Hamish Hamilton 1970; Penguin 1972
• A Bit of Singing and Dancing, Hamish Hamilton 1973; Penguin 1974
• Listening to the Orchestra, Long Barn Books 1997
• The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read, Chatto and Windus July 2003
• Farthing House: And Other Stories, Long Barn Books, 2006
• The Travelling Bag and Other Ghostly Stories, Profile Books, Sep 2016

• The Custodian, Covent Garden Press 1972{{Cite web|url=http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/susan-hill/custodian.htm|title=The Custodian by Susan Hill|access-date=3 October 2023|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202858/http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/susan-hill/custodian.htm|url-status=live}}

• The Magic Apple Tree, (autobiography) Hamish Hamilton, 1982; Penguin 1985; Long Barn Books 1998
• Through the Kitchen Window, Illustrated by Angela Barrett, Hamish Hamilton 1984; Penguin 1986
• Through the Garden Gate, (Illustrated by Angela Barrett), Hamish Hamilton, 1986
• The Lighting of the Lamps, (Collected pieces) Hamish Hamilton, 1987
• Shakespeare Country, (photographs by Talbot and Whiteman) Michael Joseph, 1987
• The Spirit of the Cotswolds, (photographs by Nick Meers), Michael Joseph, 1988
• Family, (Autobiography) Michael Joseph, 1989
• Reflections from a Garden, (Illustrated by Ian Stephens; written with Rory Stuart) Pavilion Books 1995
• Howards End is on the Landing Profile Books, 2009
• Jacob's Room is Full of Books: A Year of Reading , Profile Books, 2017

• The Cold Country and Other Plays for Radio (includes The End of Summer, Lizard in the Grass, Consider the Lilies, Strip Jack Naked); London, BBC Publications, 1975.
• Lizard in the Grass, broadcast 1971; produced Edinburgh, 1988
• On the Face of It, broadcast 1975; published in Act 1, edited by David Self and Ray Speakman, London, Hutchinson, 1979
• The Ramshackle Company (for children); produced London, 1981
• Chances, broadcast 1981; produced London, 1983.

• One Night at a Time, Hamish Hamilton 1984; Puffin 1986
• Mother's Magic, Hamish Hamilton 1985; Puffin 1986
• Can it be True?; (illustrated by Angela Barrett) Hamish Hamilton 1987; Puffin 1988; Walker Books 1990
• Susie's Shoes, (illustrated by Priscilla Lamont), Hamish Hamilton 1989; Puffin 1990
• Stories from Codling Village, (illustrated by Caroline Crosland) Walker Books 1990
• I've Forgotten Edward, Walker Books and Sainsburys 1990
• I Won't Go there Again, Walker Books 1990
• Pirate Poll (illustrated by Priscilla Lamont), Hamish Hamilton 1991; Puffin 1992
• The Glass Angels, Walker Books 1991, Paperback 1993
• Beware, Beware, (illustrated by Angela Barrett), Walker Books 1993, Paperback 1994
• King of King's, (illustratedb by John Lawrence), Walker Books 1994
• The Christmas Collection: An Anthology (illustrated: John Lawrence), Walker Books 1995
• The Battle for Gullywith, 2008

• 1971 Somerset Maugham Award – I'm the King of the Castle
• 1972 Booker Prize shortlist – The Bird of Night
• 1972 Whitbread Novel Award – The Bird of Night
• 1972 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize – The Albatross
• 1988 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Gold Award, 6–8 years category) – Can It Be True?: A Christmas Story
• 2012 CBE
• 2020 DBE

{{reflist}}

• {{british council|id=susan-hill|name=Susan Hill}}
• {{isfdb name}}
• {{IMDb name}}
• [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3644293/A-writers-life-Susan-Hill.html A writer's life: Susan Hill] from The Daily Telegraph
• [http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-literary-criticism/hill-susan Contemporary Literary Criticism : Susan Hill]
• [http://www.suttonelms.org.uk/shill.html Radio Drama by Susan Hill]

{{Novels by Susan Hill}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Susan}}

Category:1942 births

Category:Living people

Category:Alumni of King's College London

Category:Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Category:Fellows of King's College London

Category:Writers from Scarborough, North Yorkshire

Category:English fantasy writers

Category:John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners

Category:English women short story writers

Category:British ghost story writers

Category:English lesbian writers

Category:English women science fiction and fantasy writers

Category:English women novelists

Category:20th-century English novelists

Category:20th-century English women writers

Category:21st-century English novelists

Category:21st-century English women writers

Category:English women mystery writers

Category:20th-century English short story writers

Category:21st-century English short story writers

Category:People educated at Barr's Hill School

Category:Wives of knights