It`s called THE SHORTEST DAY DYING by Peter Hobbs and it was published in 2005 by Faber and I want to know why they did not make more fuss about it, why they did not jump up and down and dance and sing and shout ? Because it is quite short ? Because they didn`t pay a million pounds for it ? Oh get thee behind me cynic.

Right. Let`s try to do something. You don`t need to know a great deal about the plot. It is set in  remote south west cornwall in the 1870s and it is about a young  blacksmith who is also a peripatetic Methodist preach who walks miles round the county  preaching the Word with passion and conviction to tiny congregations.  Its descriptions of the landscape, as seen through  Charles Wenmoth`s eyes, the way it conveys the fire in his soul, his determination, his sense of mission, are white-hot. It is a strange, haunting, gripping book. Another writer would have given us 700 pages and we would have been weary. Hobbs gives us less than 200 and every paragraph, every line tells, every word counts.

I`m going to do with  THE SHORT DAY DYING what I did with MR THUNDERMUG. I am buying 10 copies. If you would like one, just ask. Leave your address under Comments or, if you would rather not, e-mail to mail@susan-hill.com

It comes with an obligation. If you love it, tell people about it.

Oh, and my back is getting better, thank you kindly for enquiring and for all the helpful advice. The best was DO NOT LIE DOWN. So I walked about and even ate my breakfast standing up. I did go to bed though.

It seems to have done the trick. But as any doctor worth his salt should tell you, 90% of things get better by themselves anyway, whatever you do or do not.