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nancyadelman 's review for:
Shirley
by Susan Scarf Merrell
A graduate student and his young, pregnant wife come to Vermont to live with Stanley Hyman and his more famous wife, Shirley Jackson. Fred the grad student spends a great deal of time at the nearby college or interacting with Stanley, who is also a professor of Literature at the same college. Rose, the pregnant wife, spends her days with Shirley Jackson learning to entertain their house guests and keeping up with the housework so that Shirley can write. Rose becomes fascinated with the story of a student who mysteriously disappeared some twenty years earlier hiking in the mountains and finds herself immersed a little too closely into her tale.
This is a literary book, a book written for it's artistry of how the words and sentences are put together. This book calls itself a thriller but it's not really. There's a couple of moments that really grab your attention but I wouldn't call them thrilling. It's sort of like riding a kiddie-roller coaster. It looks fun so you ride it, but then you learn that it's not really all that exciting. The characters were really nicely developed but it takes forever for the plot to get anywhere. It did make me wonder how close the author got to describing Shirley Jackson's persona. She seems nice, friendly and charming for the most part, but maybe not so much once you've gotten on the wrong side of her (as anyone would be?).
Her children were annoying twits in the book. And Stanley, well.... was Stanley.... a womanizer known for sleeping with his students. The book is mostly set in Vermont, where Shirley and Stanley lived. There are many scenes involving characters drinking alcohol but no other substance use. No violence. Some references to characters having sex, but never described on the page. This would be a good book for anyone who likes Shirley Jackson. I am giving this book four stars for the slow-moving plot.
This is a literary book, a book written for it's artistry of how the words and sentences are put together. This book calls itself a thriller but it's not really. There's a couple of moments that really grab your attention but I wouldn't call them thrilling. It's sort of like riding a kiddie-roller coaster. It looks fun so you ride it, but then you learn that it's not really all that exciting. The characters were really nicely developed but it takes forever for the plot to get anywhere. It did make me wonder how close the author got to describing Shirley Jackson's persona. She seems nice, friendly and charming for the most part, but maybe not so much once you've gotten on the wrong side of her (as anyone would be?).
Her children were annoying twits in the book. And Stanley, well.... was Stanley.... a womanizer known for sleeping with his students. The book is mostly set in Vermont, where Shirley and Stanley lived. There are many scenes involving characters drinking alcohol but no other substance use. No violence. Some references to characters having sex, but never described on the page. This would be a good book for anyone who likes Shirley Jackson. I am giving this book four stars for the slow-moving plot.