AIf you feel it, then be afraid

“Was there a house? Could I find someone to put me on the right road?”

The first chapter of "The Small Hand" might disappoint some fans of Susan Hill. Adam Snow, the narrator of this uncanny story, lost his way (while driving on the road). And he ended up in an abandoned house. The structure revealed Edwardian architecture, and what was formerly a pool seemed like a shadow of its former glory. And then Adam Snow felt a child's hand touching his right shoulder. It might be a modified version of "Psycho", but Hill would disagree with it.

Hill, a native of North Yorkshire, became renowned for spooky tales. Readers could come up with the following: Edwardian houses, nostalgia, and hushed-up tales. As for long-forgotten stories, the British isles won't run out of one. For instance, Queen Victoria retreated to her Scottish castle after the death of her husband, Prince Albert. John Brown, her servant, became her eyes and ears. It didn't sit well with her advisers, as Mr. Brown didn't represent the upper class. (What he would say might not be in the best interest of the rich and powerful). No one really knew the extent of their relationship, as Princess Beatrice, Victoria's youngest daughter, burned her mother's journal after her death. This would be far from supernatural tales, but this could be the premise of Hill's ghost story.

I wanted to see more

Adam Snow was an antiquated book dealer. He was at the top of his profession, but his accidental arrival in the white house haunted him. Hill was brilliant in describing English towns, which would elicit emotions. Crythin Gifford, the setting for "The Woman in Black", put a damp cloud above its inhabitants. The Eel Marsh House, which was secluded from the town during high tide, embodied sorrow and menace. In the case of Oxford, Snow felt a hundred years older. So he went to monasteries on the continent, where some visitors would swear that they heard the call of Mother Nature. (They have no idea that monks have e-mail accounts.) For Snow, it would make him recall the house.

Hill didn't play with the readers for too long, as they would figure out the two likely endings for this novel. The abandoned pool was the site of a tragic accident. Snow had his first experience of mental breakdown when he had an urge to dive into a pool (in Oxford). Most ghost stories have a twist near the end, which will separate the good ones from the rest. Perceptive readers will be disappointed at the outcome of Snow's saga, but they forgot the build up.

The author managed to link two tales, which weren't related to each other. And both stories would meet at midpoint. It also illustrated the reason why many female authors are better in writing ghost stories. It was all about emotion. Pain would influence the chain of events. And a young mother would be involved in it. This was familiar territory to Hill.