Surprisingly, The Mist in the Mirror is my first encounter with Susan Hill’s work. That’s what comes of being a Victorian geek, I suppose. I was very pleased to discover, therefore, a ghost story set in nineteenth-century England. A traveller by the name of Sir James Monmouth arrives in London on a dark and stormy night, determined to find out more about the mysterious explorer Conrad Vane. During his quest he encounters ghostly figures and spooky goings-on, and discovers that his connection with Vane is more personal than he thought.
Hill does a magnificent job of conveying the minatory atmosphere of the London streets and introduces some memorable characters, such as the aristocratic clairvoyant Viola Quincebridge. The suspense gathers a terrifying momentum as the narrative progresses, only to collapse in an unsatsifying resolution. For some unfathomable reason, Hill leaves many loose ends and much remains unexplained. I don’t know whether she rushed the ending or simply wanted it to remain ambiguous. Either way, it is a disappointing conclusion to a novel that had the potential to be a neo-Victorian classic.
[ratings]
Related posts:
