Dame Susan Hill, Lady Wells, (born 5 February 1942) is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include ''

The Woman in Black ''The Woman in Black'' is a 1983 gothic horror novel by English writer Susan Hill. The plot concerns a mysterious spectre that haunts a small English town. A television film based on the story, also called '' The Woman in Black'', was produced ...

'', '' The Mist in the Mirror'', and ''

I'm the King of the Castle ''I’m the King of the Castle'' is a 1970 novel by English writer Susan Hill. The 1989 French film '' Je suis le seigneur du château'' directed by Régis Wargnier Régis Wargnier (; born 18 April 1948) is a French film director, film produc ...

'', for which she received the

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awa ...

in 1971. She was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

, both for services to literature.

Early life and education

Hill was born in

Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough () is a seaside town in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Scarborough is located on the North Sea coastline. Historic counties of England, Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town lies between 10 ...

. Her home town was later referred to in her novel ''

A Change for the Better ''A Change for the Better'' is a 1969 novel by English writer Susan Hill, published by Hamish Hamilton. Plot The novel is set one November in a seaside town where Deirdrie Fount and her mother Winifred Oddicott run a drapery shop. Deirdre's 11-y ...

'' (1969) and in some short stories like ''Cockles and Mussels''. She attended

Scarborough Convent School Scarborough Convent School, also known as The Convent of the Ladies of Mary Grammar School and many variations, was a girls' school in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, from 1882 until 1975. The school was founded by a Belgian order of nuns ...

, where she became interested in theatre and literature. Her family left Scarborough in 1958 and moved to

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

where her father worked in car and aircraft factories. Hill states that she attended a girls'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

, Barr's Hill. Her fellow pupils included Jennifer Page, the first Chief Executive of the

Millennium Dome The Millennium Dome was the original name of the large dome-shaped building on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East (London sub region), South East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millenn ...

. At Barrs Hill, she took A levels in English, French, History, and Latin, proceeding to an English degree at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. By this time, she had already written her first novel, ''The Enclosure'', which was published by Hutchinson in her first year at the university. Her next novel ''

Gentleman and Ladies ''Gentleman and Ladies'' is a novel by English author Susan Hill, published in 1968, runner-up for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. It is notable in exploring themes of death, mental health, and elderly well-being, despite Hill's relative youth at ...

'' was published in 1968 and was runner-up for the

John Llewellyn Rhys Prize The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize was a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama) by an author from the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and publis ...

. This was followed in quick succession by ''

'', ''

The Albatross ''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 pub ...

'' and other stories, '' Strange Meeting'', ''

The Bird of Night ''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 fo ...

'', ''

A Bit of Singing and Dancing ''A Bit of Singing and Dancing'' is a short story collection by British writer Susan Hill. It was published in 1973 in the United Kingdom and reissued along with ''In the Springtime of the Year'' in the United States in 1984. The stories mainly ...

'' and ''

In the Springtime of the Year IN, In or in may refer to: Places * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Indepen ...

'', all written and published between 1968 and 1974.

Personal life

Hill was engaged to David Lepine, organist at

Coventry Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The curren ...

, but he died of a coronary in 1972. In 1975, she married Shakespeare scholar Stanley Wells, and they moved to Stratford upon Avon. Their first daughter, author Jessica Ruston, was born in 1977, and their second daughter, Clemency, was born in 1985. A middle daughter, Imogen, was born prematurely, and died at the age of five weeks. In 2013, it was reported that she 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. In 2016, Machin left Hill for comedian

Rhona Cameron Rhona Cameron (born 27 September 1965) is a Scottish comedian, writer and TV presenter. She rose to prominence via the stand-up comedy circuit, and was a regular on British television in the 1990s. Television career In 1992, she won ''So You ...

. In the 1990s Hill founded her own publishing company, Long Barn Books, 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.

Published works

Hill's novels are written in a descriptive

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style, especially her ghost story ''

'', which was 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 Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was Geor ...

. 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 A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

in 1989, and a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve clas ...

in 2012. She wrote another ghost story with similar ingredients, '' The Mist in the Mirror'' in 1992, and a sequel to du Maurier's '' Rebecca'' entitled '' Mrs de Winter'' in 1993. In 2004, Hill began a series of crime novels featuring detective Simon Serrailler, entitled ''

The Various Haunts of Men ''The Various Haunts of Men'' (2004) is a novel by Susan Hill. It is the first in a series of seven "Simon Serrailler" crime novels by the author. It concerns the disappearance of people in the English cathedral town of Lafferton and the result ...

'' (2004). This was followed by '' The Pure in Heart'' (2005), '' The Risk of Darkness'' (2006), '' The Vows of Silence'' (2009), ''The Shadows in the Street'' (2010), ''The Betrayal of Trust'' (2011), ''A Question of Identity'' (2013), ''The Soul of Discretion'' (2014) and ''A Breach of Security'', a short story (2014), ''Hero'', another short story (2016), '' The Comforts of Home'' in 2018 and ''The Benefit of Hindsight'' in October 2019.

Awards

* 1971

''I'm the King of the Castle'' * 1972

Whitbread Novel Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

''The Bird of Night'' (which was also shortlisted for the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

) * 1972

''The Albatross'' * 1988

Nestlé Smarties Book Prize The Nestlé Children's Book Prize, and Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for a time, was a set of annual awards for British children's books that ran from 1985 to 2007. It was administered by BookTrust, an independent charity that promotes books and ...

(Gold Award) (6–8 years category) ''Can It Be True?: A Christmas Story'' * 2012

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

* 2020 DBE

References

External links

* * * *
A writer's life: Susan Hill
from ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

''
Contemporary Literary Criticism : Susan Hill

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Susan 1942 births Living people Alumni of King's College London Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of King's College London People from Scarborough, North Yorkshire English fantasy writers John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners British women short story writers Ghost story writers English lesbian writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers English women novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English women writers Women mystery writers 20th-century British short story writers 21st-century British short story writers People educated at Barr's Hill School Writers from Yorkshire Wives of knights