The Mist in the Mirror: A Ghost Story

I purchased this book after reading another of her ghost stories. I could not find this one at my library. It is a quick read and while the paperback is a little tattered, I enjoyed it immensely.

I am a fan of Susan Hill, that said, this is a pretty good book. Not her best (the Woman in Black or the Man in the Picture) but still far superior to most of the tripe out there passing as fiction. This is the kind of creeping horror I love, the Shirley Jackson or ghost stories of Edith Wharton or Henry James kind. One of Edith Wharton's best is about a ghost you do not know you have seen until much later. I like the idea. I like the subtle, insidious kind of scare Susan Hill specializes in. If you, like me, are a Shirley Jackson fan, you will like this book.

While I was reading this book I had mentally awarded it a five, even from the first few pages. Susan Hill evokes a wonderful, eerie vision of Victorian London, and the novel kept my attention all the way through. It is essentially an old fashioned ghost story, about a man who returns from the colonies to London in the latter half of the last century and begins a quest to discover the truth about his own mysterious past. It is an extremely well written story and I was filled with anticipation about what would be revealed at the end - how all the mysterious clues would tie together - but I am afraid that the ending when it came was a big disappointment. I felt that Ms Hill has no more idea than the reader about how the book should end, and the startling plot twist I was hoping for never came, so despite my enjoyment of the bulk of the novel I can't give it more than 4 marks. I would still recommend this book to other readers because of the excellent standard of writing and the wonderful Victorian atmosphere it evokes - and I also admit there is a possibility that I missed some hidden significance in the ending which will be crystal clear to other readers!