The Woman in Black

The Woman in Black (1983) by Susan Hill follows the gothic literary tradition. Hill explores traditional horror tropes, such as abandoned estates and ghost hauntings, set in an unspecified time in England’s countryside. The horror novella focuses on the first-person point-of-view of Arthur Kipps as he reflects on a ghost haunting he experienced as a young man. Hill explores themes of loss and mourning, the impact of holding onto the past, and the clash between rationality and superstitious beliefs. The Woman in Black peers into the life of not only Kipps, but also the community in a small, countryside town.

The novel has been adapted into television, stage, and film productions, including the 2012 film of the same name starring Daniel Radcliffe.

This guide uses the Vintage Books paperback edition published in 2011.

Content Warning: This novel contains themes of child loss.

Plot Summary

While enjoying Christmas Eve with his family, Arthur Kipps’s stepchildren remind him of his past as they take turns telling ghost stories. Haunted by a memory, Kipps decides to write about his experience in a small town in the English countryside. However, he wishes for no one to read his story until after his death.

In his early twenties, Kipps works as a solicitor under his employer, Mr. Bentley. He is engaged to a woman named Stella and has plans to take on more responsibilities in his career. Being tasked to attend a funeral for one of their clients, Kipps leaves London to settle the estate of Mrs. Alice Drablow, hoping to prove he can take on more work from Mr. Bentley in his old age. Kipps heads to Crythin Gifford, where he will go to Mrs. Drablow’s estate, Eel Marsh House, to sort her personal and legal documents before the property is sold.

Kipps, who holds a strong distaste for the fog in London, is excited to head to the countryside. On the train ride, he meets Mr. Daily, a local from Crythin Gifford. Kipps learns the town is surrounded by its own fog that appears suddenly. As Kipps and Mr. Daily continue to talk, Mr. Daily does not reveal a lot of information about Mrs. Drablow and hardly comments on Kipps’s business in town. Upon arrival at the inn, Kipps learns the entire town tends to avoid the conversation about Eel Marsh House and Mrs. Drablow. The funeral is not expected to have many attendees, and Kipps discovers a mystery around the estate and its owner.

Kipps meets with the local solicitor, Mr. Jerome, who accompanies him to the funeral the next day. Mr. Jerome reveals that he will not be going to Eel Marsh House with Kipps, but he has arranged for Mr. Keckwick, a local man, to take Kipps to the estate. During the funeral, Kipps sees a woman dressed in black with a veil covering her face; Kipps recognizes her beauty but also thinks that the woman must have a disease due to her sickly appearance. When Kipps asks Mr. Jerome about this woman, Mr. Jerome panics and refuses to talk about it.

On the way to Eel Marsh House, Mr. Keckwick tells Kipps that he will be stuck at the estate until the tide goes back out that evening, since it is situated on an island. At the house, Kipps spends some time exploring the property and discovers an old family cemetery. He also sees the woman in black again, which causes him to panic and run into the house. Later on, he hears the sound of a horse and cart falling into the marsh and the screams of a young child. However, the fog is too thick to see anything outside. Kipps hides away in the house until Mr. Keckwick picks him up later that night.

Back at the inn, Kipps sees the woman in black in his nightmares and feels a sense of dread over returning to the estate. He talks to Mr. Daily about how to proceed with his job because he does not want to disappoint Mr. Bentley or his fiancée, Stella. Due to the large amount of documents Mrs. Drablow acquired, Kipps plans to stay the night at Eel Marsh House, so Mr. Daily loans him Spider, his dog, for company and protection. Over the next several days, Kipps discovers letters between Mrs. Drablow and Jennet Humfrye, her sister, over a young boy named Nathaniel.

During the days, the estate stays quiet, but, at night, Kipps wakes up frequently and is overwhelmed with fear. Kipps is awoken by Spider’s growling at a locked door, and Kipps hears, again, a child screaming. He also hears a rocking chair moving in the hidden room. The door spikes interest in Kipps, and he decides to go into the room, which ends up being a nursery.

One early morning, Spider and Kipps are outside when a whistle causes Spider to run out into the marsh. Spider starts to drown, and Kipps runs after him, pulling him out of the marsh just before they both become trapped. Kipps looks up at the house and sees the woman in black staring at him from the nursery. Kipps passes out for a few hours and wakes to find Mr. Daily already at the estate. Mr. Daily suggests that Kipps leave. They pack up his belongings and the documents he already sorted from Mrs. Drablow, and he finishes reading the letters between Mrs. Drablow and Jennet Humfrye.

Mrs. Drablow adopted Jennet’s son, Nathanial, despite Jennet’s unwillingness to give her son away. Jennet was overcome with grief and sadness, which worsened when Nathaniel died from drowning in the marsh due to an accident with a horse-drawn cart. Mr. Daily also reveals that the sighting of the woman in black—who is now known to be Jennet Humfrye—is followed by the death of one of the local children. Kipps worries if his experience with the woman has caused the death of another child. However, Mr. Daily tells him this has not happened.

After recovering from almost drowning in the marsh, Kipps goes back to London and marries Stella. They have a son, Joseph. One day, the family spends time outside, and Stella and Joseph ride around in a horse-drawn cart. Kipps notices the woman in black standing near his family, and, before he can get to them, his wife and son have a fatal crash.