Reviews

Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin

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alexisrt's review against another edition

5.0

My first encounter with Shirley Jackson was in the fourth grade, when we read "Charles," and it made an impression I did not forget. It was a few years later that I discovered her fiction, and I've been a fan ever since. I've been waiting for this book since I read the excerpts in the New Yorker. It is the best kind of literary biography--an analysis of her life, her complicated marriage to Stanley Hyman (an accomplished writer and critic in his own right), and her work. Whether in a lighthearted domestic memoir or an apparent horror tale, Jackson focused on the lives of women--their relationships, their ties to domesticity, their place in their communities.

teddy_jenkins_14's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

erboe501's review against another edition

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5.0

I have read two novels by Jackson and many of her short stories, so I was eager to learn more about the woman who created these creepy, piercing tales. Jackson did indeed have a life haunted by insecurities, doubts, and mistreatment at the hands of her mother and husband. But she managed to write such riveting narratives. I really appreciated how Franklin tied in the published works with Jackson's journals, letters, and life events. She does a great job of interpreting inconclusive events and offering all the various interpretations historians and critics have come up with. What was also very striking was the way Jackson had to balance her role as a 50s housewife with her authorial persona. She faced so much sexism, and internalized some of it. Or, at least didn't know what place there could be for her outside of her familial role.

Now I'm desperate to read the rest of Jackson's oeuvre! This is a writer who deserves more attention in the canon and public memory.

peculiarcelia's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

crdoyle's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective

5.0

stevenyenzer's review against another edition

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4.0

One of my favorite literary biographies ever. Franklin’s research is so thorough and the book is packed full of information, but it’s incredibly readable and deeply empathetic.