Book Review: The Woman in Black

I was recommended this book a while ago and decided now would be a good time to read it with the film coming out and all, hence the dodgy picture of Harry Potter (sorry, Daniel Radcliffe) on the cover. I really enjoyed this book and liked the way it was written. The style of writing is similar to that of Sarah Waters and dragged the reader into the story well.

At the beginning of the story we meet a middle aged man who has a fairly comfortable life. We soon find that he has a story to tell which has haunted him for most of his adult life. The rest of the story tells the story of the young man who works for a solicitors in London and has been asked to go and find papers of worth at a clients house out on the marshes in the east of England. We then find that all is not as it seems as Eel Marsh House and a very chilling and creepy story unfolds.

I liked the fact that a lot of the creepy feelings in this book were caused by the power of suggestion and suspense rather than gore and frightening scenes. It is more like a good old fashioned ghost story than a lot of the modern horrors we get today. I really felt the suspense in the book and it was descriptive enough to provide some brilliant imagery, without being too wordy.

The only thing that made it slightly less enjoyable for me was not the fault of the book or the writer, as I guessed the twist at the end. So although I had the build up of suspense, there was no climax to it as I had already figured it out. All in all an enjoyable book and I would recommend it, particularly to anyone who has read The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters.