A moving, evocative and rewarding novel

A brilliantly eerie little tale...with a very adroitly handled contemporary theme: the misery memoir

The Beacon uses a small canvas, but it examines larger issues of truth, mental health and memory... Ideas about wasted lives, about grinding exhaustion at the expense of self-expression and about rank injustice are all here in a novel of great structural and stylistic control

Magnificent...It is all done so well, so wisely, that this short book is richly satisfying...it is a little masterpiece

Captivating... There is, from the start, a highly charged atmosphere of anxiety and ambiguity...the suspense and mystery work perfectly, and for this Hill's economy is exactly what is needed

Short, beautifully crafted and gripping... Hill's astute and skilful probing of motives and the ambiguities of appearances extends the reach of the novel much wider

This enigmatic novella tracks the full impact of Frank's book, probing notions of guilt and truth, and deftly capturing those family bonds that warp even as they appear to nurture

Compelling, cut through with sloe-sharp details as Hill exhibits complete mastery of the tools at her disposal... It is a moving, evocative and rewarding novel

Beautiful, clean prose...[an] absorbing story

A clever novel that's timeless in its tension-building storytelling

A chilling tale of a farming family

Taut novella

Misery memoirs may no longer be the flavour of the month, but according to Susan Hill's new novel, their consequences can be far reaching. In search of a quick buck, middle-aged journalist Frank Prime pens a bestseller detailing his childhood on a remote North Country farm.

Not a word is wasted in this chilling novella

A thought-provoking story

This novel is short, beautifully crafted and gripping

A work of great creepiness and subtle power. It will linger 'orribly in the mind.

Expertly structured, her beautifully written prose as haunting as the best ghost story

From ghost stories to crime thrillers to children's novels, Susan Hill is a writer of striking versatility. 'The Beacon' is a literary novel - done to spectacular effect

A marvellous book

A perfectly pitched novel that captures its characters and their dilemmas.