Bill Denbrough and Susan Browne

Bill Denbrough and Susan Browne were connected by a professional relationship that briefly became personal during a pivotal period in Bill's early writing career. Susan Browne was Bill's literary agent, a woman described as exactly five feet tall, violently energetic, and even more violently emphatic. She represented Bill from the start of his success, when his first novel was purchased by Viking Press while he was still in college, and she continued to advise him as his career progressed.

Professional and Personal Bond

Their relationship crossed the line from purely professional into the personal. Bill and Susan were in bed together during one of their conversations about his career, a detail that reveals the intimacy of their bond. During this encounter, Susan urged Bill not to go to Hollywood to work on the screenplay for his second novel, The Black Rapids, warning him that the film industry would separate him from his self-respect and his ability to write. She told him, "You write like a grownup, but you're just a kid with a very high forehead." Bill insisted he had to go, explaining that he needed to get away from New England, and specifically from Maine. Susan cried during this conversation, though Bill doubted she knew he noticed; he saw only a shine in her eyes and chose not to mention it.

The End of the Relationship

Susan accepted Bill's decision with a dry, businesslike tone, telling him to call her when he was ready and she would come to pick up the pieces, if there were any left. Bill later acknowledged to his wife, Audra Phillips, that he had slept with Susan Browne, confirming that the relationship was a known part of his past. The affair ended when Bill moved to California for the film work, where he met and married Audra. Susan Browne thus represents a transitional figure in Bill's life—a woman who was both his professional advocate and a brief romantic partner, whose advice he ultimately ignored in pursuit of his career and his future wife.