The Woman in Black

Open Book this afternoon included an interview with Susan Hill about The Woman in Black. Now of course I know that it is a long running West End play and that it is soon to open as a film staring Daniel Radcliffe. I also know that it is a spooky story in a gothic sort of way, but I'm ashamed to admit that that is about it. Well, I am now enlightened and will add The Woman in Black to my growing pile of books to read.

Hill, now 70, said that the book was a bit of an experiment. She wanted to write a ghost story and thought that the only ones anyone ever really read were A Christmas Carol and The Turn of the Screw and that, in any event, ghost stories were rarely full length novels. She also wanted to return to writing after a few years break with her young daughter. She found a student who provided childcare every morning for 6 weeks and so the book had to be written in that time. Consistent with the customary efficiency of a new returner to the workplace, she did it. After some initial success, it faded. However, the novel's enduring popularity seems to be founded on its place on the GCSE and A level syllabuses - a sure way to inflate sales. And no doubt that is one reason why the play is still running and why teenage audiences will flock to the film (nothing to do with young Dan of course).