The Woman in Black

Something sinister is going on in Crythin Gifford. Susan Hill’s novel, The Woman in Black, published in 1983, tells the story of Arthur Kipps, a young lawyer sent to this small town in the northeast of England. Kripps is there to do the paperwork for the estate of Mrs Drablow, a woman who has just died. At the funeral, he sees a strange, spooky looking woman dressed in black. This is only the beginning of the strangeness. At  Eel Marsh House, the home of Mrs Drablow, he hears what sounds like a disaster. During his time there, he is afflicted with eerie, haunting happenings. Gradually, he is able to piece together the story of the woman in black. She is Mrs Drablow’s sister, Jennet, who had her child taken from her because she was unmarried. After the child died in an accident, Jennet’s ghost returned seeking revenge, and claims the lives of local children. After learning the sad story, Kipps returns home, thinking that it is all behind him, only to become the latest victim of the woman in black. A story that horrified readers when it was published, and then again in its cinematic adaptations, The Woman in Black shows a society haunted by the unspoken anger of women who have been wronged by its rules.