Black Sheep is a solid read from Susan Hill, all around satisfying. I try to read all her novels, each have had widely different storylines. There is only the continuous thread of great writing, which promises the reader a unique experience.
Brother and sister Ted and Rose grew up in Mount of Zeal, a coal blackened mining town built on a hillside. The poorer houses nearest the mining pit house extended families where the men of all ages work the tunnels, with wealthier families and management homes rising in rows higher above the soot in a place nicknamed Paradise. Knowing nothing of the outside world, they yearn to escape. Rose finds marriage to a company man only leads to a trap of another kind, while Ted ventures to the hilltop where he works a sheep farm in the clean fresh air. As time passes, dramatic events at the mine will pull them back down the hill - neither able to fully break free of family obligations, and their frustration leads to brutal consequences.
There is no country stated or year when this story takes place. Possibly in the 1950's but it's of no importance. The roles of women relegated to the cleaning and the cooking is as strongly imprinted as the inevitability that all men will work the mine - they rely on the income. Hill succeeds in picturing life for the impoverished of a small town, a life of work and little else. The yearning of Ted to rise above tradition is heartfelt, making his anger towards his future understandable when he reaches a breaking point, violently lashing out. I've found whatever tale Susan Hill tells is captivating - this no moreso for being tragic and a little bleak.
My other reviews for Susan Hill:
2013 / Tradeback / 135 pages
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