Black Sheep

Susan Hill Press Reviews

This is a story of people living hard lives, narrow lives which nevertheless have their own dignity. It is beautifully, even lovingly, told, with not a superfluous word... Characters are sketched in a couple of sentences, and fixed in your imagination. Manner is perfectly matched with matter; it's impossible to suppose that the story could be better told -- Alan Massie Scotsman gripping all the way to its unexpected end -- Matthew Dennison The Times a perfectly judged story of people living hard, narrow lives Observer A very slender novella, but one in which Susan Hill deploys her not inconsiderable power to weave a haunting story -- Victoria Moore Daily Mail Hill's beautiful, soulful descriptions of pit village life make this every bit as gripping as her longer spine-chilling stories Sunday Mirror In this taught, tense story, written with that unsparing economy which is such a feature of Hill's recent fiction, everyone longs to escape... Ted is thoughtful, compassionate, loving and misguidedly chivalrous... The sparseness of Hill's style provides the perfect medium for exploring his predicament East Anglian Daily Times As always with Susan Hill the scene-setting in Black Sheep is superb. Expect to read those final pages with your eyes half-closed because Susan Hill doesn't flinch from her purpose, and then expect to be haunted by that final moment for days to come most certainly...probably years Dove Grey Reader Hill's taut prose exudes a constant darkness... you are left unsettled and haunted by the seeming inevitability of their troubled lives Stylist