Born in Scarborough, Susan Hill’s early life was shaped by impressions of the wild North Sea. As an only child, she found solace and companionship in the stories she read and wrote. Her imaginative world was rich and her understanding of outsiders and the mind of a child has been an abiding strength in her fiction. She is remarkable for the range of genres that she has mastered during her long professional career. Her first novel, 

The Enclosure

 (1961), was published during her first term at King’s College, London, where she read English; her second, 

Do Me a Favour

 (1963), came out before she left university. For the next five years she reviewed books for 

The Coventry Evening Telegraph

 and avidly wrote radio plays and fiction. 

I’m the King of the Castle

 (1970) won the…

1810 words

Citation: Scullion, Val. "Susan Hill". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 September 2008; last revised 12 May 2022. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2140, accessed 19 March 2024.]

2140 Susan Hill 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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