When fans of Harry Potter heard that lead actor, Daniel Radcliffe, was to star in a film adaptation of Susan Hill’s ‘The woman in Black’ they were probably of the assumption that it would be a sort of spin off to their favourite movie franchise. But in fact it is nothing like it. The woman in Black is a horror novella originally written in 1983 by Susan Hill. The book is written in the style of a traditional gothic novel and was adapted as a film in 2012. The story begins with Arthur Kipps, a solicitor who is now retired. One night, he is in his house with his wife Esme when his four step children begin to tell ghost stories. When Arthur himself is asked to share a creepy tale about spectres, he becomes irritated and leaves the room- slamming the door hard behind him. The next scene is a flashback where the older version of Arthur tells the reader about his younger days when, as a junior solicitor and working for his boss at the time, Mr Bentley, he was summoned to a small market town on the North East coast called Crythin Gifford, to attend the funeral of an elderly and reclusive widow, Mrs Alice Drablow.
While the funeral is taking place, Arthur sees a woman dressed in black with a pale face and dark eyes. Arthur mentions that he saw the woman to Mr Jerome, another person who knew Mrs Drablow and who is also attending the funeral, but as he describes her, Mr Jerome’s expression changes and his face turns pale, he seems to know who Arthur is talking about but decides to stay quiet about it. During the next few days, Arthur experiences some strange noises and on one occasion he hears the sound of a horse and carriage in distress followed by the screams of a young child and his maid, the sound came from the direction of the marshes close by from where the house is situated. When he questions the people of Crythin Gifford about the noises and the vision of the woman, they are reluctant to reveal information about Mrs Drablow or the mysterious woman in Black. I found the story interesting and surprising, it isn’t too scary but if you enjoy reading about mysteries then you may enjoy this. I don’t think the woman in Black is in the library’s lending collection but it’s available in most good book stores or if you have a Kindle then you could probably download it.
