''The Small Hand: A Ghost Story'' is a novel by English author

Susan Hill Dame Susan Elizabeth Hill, Lady Wells (born 5 February 1942) is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include '' The Woman in Black'', which has been adapted for stage and screen, '' The Mist in the Mirror'', and '' ...

, first published in 2010 by

Profile Books Profile Books is a British independent book publishing firm founded in 1996. It publishes non-fiction subjects including history, biography, memoir, politics, current events, current affairs, travel and popular science. Profile Books is distribu ...

. A television film adaptation, ''Susan Hill's Ghost Story'', was broadcast by Channel 5 in December 2019.

Plot

On returning from a visit to a client, antiquarian book dealer Adam Snow takes a wrong turn and comes across a derelict Edwardian House. Overcome by curiosity he approaches the entrance and feels a small cold hand creeping into his own 'as if a child had taken hold of it'. Over the coming weeks he becomes subject to

nightmares A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety, disgust or sadness. The dream may contain situations o ...

and

panic attacks Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and discomfort that may include palpitations, otherwise defined as a rapid, irregular heartbeat, sweating, chest pain or discomfort, shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, numbness, con ...

and further visits from the small hand. He vows to learn more about the house and its overgrown garden.

Reception

Reviews were mixed : *

Jeremy Dyson Jeremy Dyson (born 14 June 1966) is a British author, musician and screenwriter who, along with Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, is one of the League of Gentlemen. He also created and co-wrote the West End show '' Ghost Storie ...

writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' writes 'this is a wonderful piece of storytelling that does what a good story ought to do: it keeps you guessing, pulls you in. And when the climax comes, the explanation and the source of the haunting are not what you think at all. You really don't see it coming.' *However Joan Smith writing in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' complains The Small Hand'' exists in a version of the modern world that doesn’t quite feel convincing, and Hill has to keep up the eerie atmosphere by reminding the reader that events are tending towards a tragic denouement. By definition ghost stories deal in the unexplained, but this one leaves too little to the imagination.Article title
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References

External links

*
Quotes from the critics and links to all the press reviews for ''The Small Hand''.
Novels by Susan Hill 2010 British novels Ghost novels Profile Books books {{2010s-ghost-novel-stub