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The Mist in the Mirror | 
 enlarge | Author: Susan Hill
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
Buy New: £2.38
You Save: £4.61 (66%)
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Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 3934
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 0.6
ISBN: 0099284367
EAN: 9780099284369
ASIN: 0099284367
Publication Date: July 31, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new. In stock and dispatched within 1-2 working days via Royal Mail. All International orders dispatched Airmail
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
Easy To Like, Hard To Love. September 25, 2008
P. Smith (South Shields UK)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that the Susan Hill novel The Woman in Black (and the superlative ITV adaptation) was one of the defining moments in my love affair with the Ghost Story. I can honestly say it stayed with me for years and as any fan of the genre will tell you, that's harder than you might think when you read a good deal of literary ghost stories. So understandably when I came to The Mist in the Mirror the freight of expectation was heavy, and for the most part I wasn't disappointed. Any readers thinking they're in for a similar experience to The Woman in Black however, most definitely will be. Unfortunately The Mist in the Mirror is rather less than the sum of its parts.
I think there are few writers who can conjure that Victorian spirit (no pun intended) Like Susan Hill. Almost immediately you're right in the thick of it; James Monmouth, an Englishman raised in Africa bequeaths a manuscript to an acquaintance at his club. What follows is thoroughly entertaining, well written but not necessarily frightening or ultimately very satisfying.
Obsessed with the travels of the explorer Conrad Vane, Monmouth returns to England after years of tracing the mysterious adventurer's footsteps. Fresh off the boat he begins researching Vane's history and his own, having no memory of his childhood in England. Cue swirling mists, dark rain-soaked cobblestones, unfriendly innkeepers (aren't they always), cries in the night and half seen apparitions at the end of corridors. What keeps this fresh and sets it apart from every other rendering of Victorian London as some kind of pitch black urban hell is that Monmouth sees it as we would, as an awestruck stranger. The narrative voice is easy and confidential, and the language is fairly unadorned which allows the reader to concentrate on the action and there's plenty of it.
The deeper Monmouth delves into the history of his hero Conrad Vane the more he is alarmed by the warnings of the various characters he encounters. Along with the usual suspects (threatening academic, kindly schoolmaster) there's an aristocratic clairvoyant in the mix, awesomely named Viola Quincebridge. Monmouth however is undeterred and continues to meddle with the past. There's something very, very sinister about Vane, could it be somehow connected to the sorrowful ghostly child that stalks Monmouth from London all the way to his dilapidated family estate in the North?
Sounds good? here's the rub. After such a great set up Hill squanders it in the final chapters on a rushed, unsatisfactory climax and an ending so ambiguous I thought I'd missed something. Major elements in the plot are left unresolved, so much so that I found it hard to believe that this is what Hill intended. Did she run out of time? Did she lose interest? like so much else in this book, you'll never know for sure. Of course there's enough of an explanation to cursorily satisfy but some of the most striking and well thought out elements of the novel are swept under the rug in the final sentences, and some, ultimately are utterly ignored.
That said,I did enjoy at least ninety per-cent of this book. If your after an entertaining, thrilling but not terribly scary ghost story and don't mind the fact that this novel won't answer all of the mysteries it sets up so well then go for it. I enjoyed every word of it but it didn't inspire me to read more Susan Hill novels, only to finish writing this one on her behalf.
 A terrific and compelling classic ghost story. November 4, 2007
A reader in the UK
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
For me, this is Susan Hill's best book - and it's a pity it's so often over-shadowed by The Woman in Black. The writing is beautiful and skilful, and the atmosphere evoked is gently chilling in the style of many of the great ghost-story writers - M R James and E F Benson come irresistibly to mind, although Ms Hill has her own plots and characters. It's a book to read and enjoy over and over again, finding new things in it at each reading. Very highly recommended for lovers of the genre.
Another Atmospheric Read from the Hill Stable... July 15, 2007
Rev. Colin A. Maynard
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Susan Hill has achieved another great read to accompany her many other excellent novels. Always a writer who takes in lots of detail to paint the backdrop and build tension here she takes the reader and transplants them into Victorian London with its rain, mists and claustraphobic buildings. The atmosphere is excellent as the tension slowly rises and Sir James Monmouth seeks the answers to his past and present hauntings. Some reviewers seem to have found the climax to have been less than it is and rate it as disappointing. This view is more an reflection of the present age than a flaw with his novel. The writer beautifully uses understatement and suggestion to add to the tension whereas many modern writers/directors leave nothing to suggestion and spoil a plot as a consequence. I found the end to be both fulfilling and climatic. This is typical Hill, and not a cheap horror novel! Therein lies both its quality and strength.
 Reservedly Recommended February 9, 2007
Athanasius (NYC)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
On the plus side, Susan Hill has been profoundly influenced by, and has learned a great deal from, the indisputable masters of the genre -- e.g., the incomparable M.R. James -- and has added her own unique voice to the tried-and-true approach to traditional ghost-story telling. She's part of the continuum, and we should all be delighted to have her. I know that I am, and I know that I enjoyed "The Mist in the Mirror". But....
Although a fairly short book, it did manage to drag on occasion. And I was disappointed by the ultimately incomplete and unsatisfactory explanation. I also found the ending gimmicky and, as other readers have commented, strangely anti-climactic.
A decent read, all in all, but not in the same league as her masterpiece, "The Woman in Black".
Highly atmospheric, but ultimately unsatisfying. December 27, 2006
Chris Cohen
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Comparison with The Woman in Black is inevitable, and unfortunately The Mist in the Mirror is not quite in the same class.
The reason? Well, to echo most other reviewers, I feel Susan Hill missed a great chance to turn out a fantastic ghost story by copping out on the ending.
For instance, there's Vane standing in the chapel, heralding (so I thought) a terrifying and spine tingling climax, and.......? He's not mentioned again. Too many loose ends generally.
It's almost as if SH got fed up after 180 - odd pages and decided to finish off the story there and then, any which way.
Having slated the ending, I must clarify that the rest of the book is very exciting. Lashings of Victorian atmosphere and some genuinely scary moments. I'm glad I read it and would recommend to others, but with a note of warning over the disappointing ending.
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