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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
I don't want to go over the story, most of us already know it. I listened to the audio book over at Audible, phenomenally read by Paapa Essiedu. This is a five-star reading of a five-star book.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this because it was recommended by my dad. I’m not going to gives stars because I’m probably not the intended reader. I did not like the writing. It was wordy and pretentious. I would not recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death
“For I must confess I had the Londoner’s sense of superiority in those days, the half-formed belief that countrymen, and particularly those who inhabited the remoter corners of our island, were more superstitious, more gullible, more slow-witted, unsophisticated and primitive, than we cosmopolitans.”
When Mrs. Drablow, the recluse widow of the eerie Eeel Marsh House dies of old age, a young and ambitious lawyer from London is sent to the small town of Crythin Gifford to sort out her affairs. Arthur Kipps dismisses the rumors surrounding Eel Marsh House as country superstition, but as he spends time in the isolated, lonely mansion, he begins to question his own sanity and his own superstition. Years later, he writes down the story of what he saw at Eel Marsh House -who he saw - and how it has wreaked terrible consequences on his own life.
I have previously read and loved Susan Hill's 'Strange Meeting' and was not disappointed with this one. All the classic ghost story tropes were well executed (haunted house, wary townspeople, abandoned nursery, dead children, ghostly apparitions), especially Eel Marsh House as the setting surrounded by fog and mist to illustrate the themes of trauma and isolation. The novel is set in Edwardian England, a time between the archaic traditions of Victorian propriety and modern liberalism. The Woman in Black, a victim of her time's social conventions still haunts the rapidly modernizing England, proving a humbling lesson in Victorian treatment of women and children. However, I found it a but too obvious that a story about a scorned woman who seeks revenge features said woman being the harbinger of children's death. Many women in literature are allowed to be angry and resentful only when they have lost a child or a lover. However, since this was published in the 80s, and because it made sense for this story, it gets a pass. Overall, this classic ghost story is indeed classic.
When Mrs. Drablow, the recluse widow of the eerie Eeel Marsh House dies of old age, a young and ambitious lawyer from London is sent to the small town of Crythin Gifford to sort out her affairs. Arthur Kipps dismisses the rumors surrounding Eel Marsh House as country superstition, but as he spends time in the isolated, lonely mansion, he begins to question his own sanity and his own superstition. Years later, he writes down the story of what he saw at Eel Marsh House -who he saw - and how it has wreaked terrible consequences on his own life.
I have previously read and loved Susan Hill's 'Strange Meeting' and was not disappointed with this one. All the classic ghost story tropes were well executed (haunted house, wary townspeople, abandoned nursery, dead children, ghostly apparitions), especially Eel Marsh House as the setting surrounded by fog and mist to illustrate the themes of trauma and isolation. The novel is set in Edwardian England, a time between the archaic traditions of Victorian propriety and modern liberalism. The Woman in Black, a victim of her time's social conventions still haunts the rapidly modernizing England, proving a humbling lesson in Victorian treatment of women and children. However, I found it a but too obvious that a story about a scorned woman who seeks revenge features said woman being the harbinger of children's death. Many women in literature are allowed to be angry and resentful only when they have lost a child or a lover. However, since this was published in the 80s, and because it made sense for this story, it gets a pass. Overall, this classic ghost story is indeed classic.
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I liked this book and it did give a good dose of creepiness but after seeing the movie trailer I assumed that it would relate to the book. After finishing the book I can pick out a good portion of the trailer that doesn't happen in the book. I was positive that there would be more hauntings going on by the Woman in Black. The book only contained the sound of a horse and trap with three passengers drowning in the marsh, the rocking chair being rocked (right in front of Arthur), the sound of the rocking chair being rocked, the occasional appearance of the Woman in Black, the child's cry, the whistle that attempted to drown Spider, the nursery being trashed, the door to the nursery being locked then open, and the feeling of a presence in Eel Marsh House. Okay so maybe that was a lot of hauntings but the trailer portrayed many more. I was also disappointed in the small amount of time that Arthur stayed in Eel Marsh House. I was expecting him to be stuck there for the majority of the book not for two days, at least I think it was for two days; it was somewhere along the lines of two days. I think that I would have enjoyed the book more if I hadn't seen the trailer beforehand. The trailer promised many expectations that were entirely different from the book that left me disappointed. And another thought, I was really confused during the second to last chapter. I took it as the whole town were ghosts but that doesn't make sense since Samuel Daily was real and visited Arthur in London in the future. Arthur's then fiancee/wife Stella also acknowledged Samuel Daily and his wife so they had to be real. But I'm still mystified over Keckwick. If he was part of the horse and trap that drowned in the marsh then why is he acknowledged by the townsfolk? Samuel flat out tells Arthur that Keckwick drowned in the marsh accident many years ago. Yet, when Arthur first visits Eel Marsh House the owner of an inn tells him that Keckwick will pick him up, shuttle him to the house, and bring him back. Mr. Jerome even mentioned Keckwick too. That piece of confusing information led me to believe that the whole town was made up of ghosts. Otherwise, everyone was indeed alive but thought that Keckwick was a real person when he really was a ghost. I don't know. Let's see what the movie says.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A