All is impression, and hints. What is the mysterious mirror? Does it show the future, or or something else? Susan Hill’s superbly crafted work enthralls the reader with its atmosphere and description. She is a master of the understated, using spare language when that is all that is needed: As Hill’s novel unfolds, psychological explanations are eventually ruled out as explanations for Monmouth’s visual and olfactory experiences, many of which are beautifully described. It’s a pity that Hill does not explore the psychological aspects more than she does, because Monmouth is really doubly haunted: metaphysically, he is plagued by ghosts; existentially, he is beset with alienation and a middle age crisis in meaning. The Mist in the Mirror: A Ghost Story is a novel by Susan Hill. The novel is about a traveller called Sir James Monmouth and his pursuit of an explorer called Conrad Vane. [1] Summary [ edit ] I stepped inside, and stood, letting my eyes grow accustomed to the change of light. I found myself in a room that stretched far ahead of me into the gloom. But there was enough of the soft, snow-reflected light coming in through the tall windows for me to have a view of a gallery, that ran the whole way around, rising towards the vaulted and elaborately carved ceiling. I felt no fear, but rather a sense of awe, as if I had entered some church or chapel.

But he soon begins to feel as though something is warning him away at every turn; there are the intense feelings of being watched and the strange apparitions of a sad little boy. The story's very ambiguity steadily feeds its mysteriousness and power, and Danielewski's mastery of postmodernist and cinema-derived rhetoric up the ante continuously, and stunningly. One of the most impressive excursions into the supernatural in many a year. I]went to the spiral staircase nearest to me, and began to climb, my steps echoing harshly in the stillness of the room. The tale is a masterpiece of suspense as the mystery is slowly revealed. Sinister happenings in both the present and the past conspire to show a man’s fate and drive him to his doom. Or do they?I went to a window, and saw that the library ran along the north end of the buildings framing the yard, at right angles to the chapel. This is told as a story within a story and I'm not sure that was entirely necessary or that it completely worked. Unfortunately, I found this book very flat. It's a very intriguing premise and having the story presented as the 'main character' reading James Montouth's letters is very well done. I love the idea of a character trying to reconnect with his ancestors, whilst also being haunted by them. However, the execution just wasn't very interesting. The first half was very engaging, but the second half was simply not interesting at all. Monmouth's journey starts off so well, but there are too many inconsequential characters and chunks of useless description. It makes Monmouth boring to follow, and makes me realise this book could probably do with some trimming down even though it's already relatively short. Rain on all the silent streets and squares, alleys and courts, gardens and churchyards and stone steps and nooks and crannies of the city. There’s nothing like a goodold-fashioned ghost story, and the masterful Hill authentically channels such giants of the Gothic genre asPoe and Doyle in this eerily atmospheric yarn of restless spirits, both temporal and corporeal.”

Are you intrigued by this extract from the middle of the book? Do you want to read more? Well then, read on ... A curious manuscript. The specter of a small child. Cold fevers. Unheeded warnings. Rain and a ubiquitous sense of gloom. That’s right, it’s a ghost story. The Mist in the Mirror, originally published by Susan Hill in 1992 and now available as a Vintage original, never strays far from convention, and while this is a bold choice, it is not altogether successful.

All the while, Monmouth is haunted by images of a young boy following him around as well as crying in the night. He also comes across a strange mirror in a former abode of Vane's that instantly mists up when he tries to see into it. What unsettles Monmouth the most is when his own family name comes up in the research into Vane's past. It seems that his ancestors may have been linked in some way to Vane and that his curious urge to investigate Vane may have been preordained. What started as a simple attempt to write a biography of his boyhood hero, the famous adventurer Conrad Vane, becomes increasingly strange, with a great sense of foreboding. Monmouth has many chances to abandon his quest for knowledge, but always refuses. The compulsion to learn more ever urges him onward, much as it does the reader, whose spine tingles as they learn more about Conrad Vane’s dreadful and nefarious secret. Gradually Monmouth learns that his life is bound together with that of his hero, in a way nobody could ever have imagined.