Having recently re-read The Woman in Black I decided to read Susan Hill’s most recent ghost story “The Small Hand”. I wanted to try and review it without giving the ending away as I felt that this would spoil a truly wonderful piece of traditional storytelling.
Hill’s gentle nod to M R James is not just in the structure of this slight tale, but also in the emotionally barren life of her central protagonist, who is a dealer in antiquarian books.
The plot structure is straightforward and uncomplicated. Adam Snow takes a wrong turn down an overgrown country lane and discovers a derelict Edwardian country house which seems to draw him into its abandoned garden. As he explores he experiences the strange sensation of a small child’s hand creeping into his own. This sets off a train of events which becomes progressively more sinister and malign, prompting Adam to experience debilitating panic attacks and nightmares as he tries to unravel the secret of this small hand.
Hill’s skill as a writer is to create ambiguous space between her sparse lines, almost as if constructing a poem. She has an unrivalled ability to make your nerve ends tingle with her precise and carefully structured prose. Her contemporary tale distils the essence of a ghost story, distorting the reader’s perceptions like shifting reflections in a pool, which seems an entirely appropriate image.
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