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A review by itspeachie
The Road Through the Wall by Shirley Jackson
4.0
RATING: 4 stars
The Road Through the Wall is not a great Shirley Jackson book, but it is good for a literary debut. Jackson’s potential is obvious from the first couple chapters—her writing’s charming and her satirical sense of humor is both clever and sly.
The story itself is fascinating and it’s told in a series of unsettling vignettes about a “picture perfect” suburban neighborhood. Naturally, the inhabitants are NOT perfect and may or may not be mentally unhinged, slightly murderous, downright terrible people.
So that’s… fun.
For the downsides, the book has a lot of loose ends and it can be incredibly confusing. The families are hard to keep track of (and none of them really stand out on their own); and all of the nasty truths of the neighborhood are hinted at subtlety, but never further expanded on.
All in all, I was a wee bit disappointed when I finished this but it was still an interesting, somewhat disturbing read and I enjoyed it for what it was. However, I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who’s new to Shirley Jackson.
TW: There are implications of shady activity, such as infidelity between the married couples (I could not remember who was supposedly having an affair with whom by the end LOL) and a single mother selling herself to pay the bills. Also, a handful of mild curse words and one racial slur.
The Road Through the Wall is not a great Shirley Jackson book, but it is good for a literary debut. Jackson’s potential is obvious from the first couple chapters—her writing’s charming and her satirical sense of humor is both clever and sly.
The story itself is fascinating and it’s told in a series of unsettling vignettes about a “picture perfect” suburban neighborhood. Naturally, the inhabitants are NOT perfect and may or may not be mentally unhinged, slightly murderous, downright terrible people.
So that’s… fun.
For the downsides, the book has a lot of loose ends and it can be incredibly confusing. The families are hard to keep track of (and none of them really stand out on their own); and all of the nasty truths of the neighborhood are hinted at subtlety, but never further expanded on.
All in all, I was a wee bit disappointed when I finished this but it was still an interesting, somewhat disturbing read and I enjoyed it for what it was. However, I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who’s new to Shirley Jackson.
TW: There are implications of shady activity, such as infidelity between the married couples (I could not remember who was supposedly having an affair with whom by the end LOL) and a single mother selling herself to pay the bills. Also, a handful of mild curse words and one racial slur.