Air and Angels
1991 novel by Susan Hill
Air and Angels is a novel by English author Susan Hill, her first for 16 years. It was first published in 1991 by Sinclair Stevenson and since republished by Vintage Books in 1999 who have also made it available as an ebook. It is said to contain some of her finest writing. The title is taken from a poem by John Donne.
Plot introduction
The first half of the book comprises two separate narratives in set in Edwardian India and Cambridge.
In Cambridge the Revd Thomas Cavendish, a celibate and irreproachable university don in his mid-fifties, appears destined to become master of the college. He lives with his sister and is a confirmed bachelor, spurning the attentions of his sister's friend Florence who is determined to wed him. His enthusiasm is birds; spending his leisure time either on the Fens birdwatching, or in his indoor aviary.
In India, 15-year-old Kitty is becoming bored with ex-colonial life, and at the same time repelled by the poverty she sees nearby; she longs to return to the England she left as a young child. Eventually her parents relent and after a long sea voyage she arrives at her cousin Florence's house in Cambridge.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Air and Angels” as 1991 novel by Susan Hill. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1991 novel by Susan Hill. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4698281. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1991 and 1999.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
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- Expand the search: follow Air and Angels primary sources, Air and Angels archive and Angels research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Air and Angels”?
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Air and Angels” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.