I've read several Susan Hill novels; sadly, this is the one that has impressed me the least. Her familiar, spare narrative style is here, as is the poignancy with which she conveys her main characters' experiences. However, she does a lot of 'telling' in this book and, while I might be willing to overlook the implausibility of the plot, I can't get past how mean-spirited it felt by the end. It's readable, certainly, but not one of her best.