May 2003

THE BOY WHO TAUGHT THE BEE KEEPER TO READ.
Chatto and Windus £10. Publication July 2003

This is Susan`s first full length collection of short stories for some years, and follows the collections A BIT OF SINGING AND DANCING (PENGUIN BOOKS 6.99) and THE ALBATROSS ( Penguin 6.99)

Several of the stories concern children and their relationships with adults… in the title story, a young boy is staying at the house of his great aunt while his parents are abroad, and makes friends with the man employed there as bee-keeper, gardener and general odd job man. When he discovers that the man cannot read, he determines to teach him and gradually a close friendship develops between them.
Other stories are set in a seaside resort and feature a group of young boys who determine to commit the worst act they can think of ….and carry it out; in a rural community where a young brother and sister witness their mother`s downtrodden state under the thumb of an aggressive husband…

TO BUY A SIGNED COPY OF THE BOY WHO TAUGHT THE BEE KEEPER TO READ AT A SPECIAL PRICE OF £8 POST FREE send a cheque for £8 to

LONG BARN BOOKS
LONGMOOR FARM
EBRINGTON
CHIPPING CAMPDEN
GLOS GL55 6NW

A NEW DEPARTURE: SUSAN WRITES

For some time I have wanted to write about things which for one reason or another don`t fit into my literary fiction or short stories. Contemporary issues and matters arising from them fit into genre fiction and I had always been interested in crime novels – not in the classic detective story/whodunit but in the more recent stream.
Last year I was commissioned to write a trio of crime novels, which will be loosely related but which do not form a ‘trilogy.’
The first is now written and will be published in 2004. The title is
THE VARIOUS HAUNTS OF MEN
I have started to write the second, THE PURE IN HEART.
The third will be called THE RISK OF DARKNESS.
This is a very exciting new departure and I am finding it extremely interesting. On the way, I am learning about such diverse matters as
Forensic Psychiatry and life in Secure Psychiatric units
CID procedure
Complementary medicine
Post Mortems
And lots of other similarly fascinating areas of life and crime.
The books also feature
An English Cathedral
A General Hospital
Venice
Race courses
Art Galleries
A GP Surgery
The English country mansion of an American Billionaire…

I hope you will be sufficiently intrigued to want to WATCH THIS SPACE

SUSAN AT THE HAY FESTIVAL 2003

THE GUARDIAN HAY FESTIVAL OF LITERATURE

The title about Susan Hill and her work in the Vintage Living Texts Series will be published in September.
On Friday MAY 30th at the Hay Festival, Hay on Wye, Susan will be talking in a session for teachers of English and others about her work, with the authors of the book Margaret Reynolds and Jonathan Noakes.
TO BOOK go to the website of THE GUARDIAN HAY FESTIVAL
www.hayfestival.co.uk

SUSAN HILL