Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life
Published by Liveright Publishing, 2016. 624 pages.
By Ruth Franklin

I have been an admirer of Shirley Jackson since my very first viewing of The Haunting (1963). When I started to really delve into reading, her novel that film was based on, The Haunting of Hill House, was one that I immediately sought out. The more I discovered about Jackson’s work, the more I discovered that I had already knew of some of it, such as The Lottery and the tale of the boy who has a troublemaker classmate that always seemed to get into trouble. But I had never really known that much about Jackson herself, until now.

I’ve read a few biographies on different actors and directors that I’ve admired but I think this is the first one where I was really given a open book, so to speak, to that person’s life. While at times it was depressing what Jackson had to deal with in her life, it showed me just how human she was, thankful we were fortunate enough that she had the talent to take her life and transform it into incredible personal and beautifully written literary works for others to enjoy and be inspired by. Granted, there were a few that would resonate with the readers, haunting them to their core!

Franklin’s book gives us an insightful and endearing look and one of the greatest American authors. I found myself feeling so bad and angry for what she had to put up with, namely her husband and her own mother, but on the same token was amazed to see her turn those emotions into these fantastic stories. Such a true talent that we lost way too soon. We learn of her childhood through her entire life, getting glimpses of the real Jackson from her different correspondences and her own notes, as well as hearing from people that knew her, including her own children. We learn of her struggles throughout her life, and how she dealt with them. It makes you wonder how different her life would have been had she stood up for herself with her mother and later her husband. Was that internal agony needed for her to create this stories?

In the opening paragraph of her book The Haunting of Hill House, she wrote the house had “stood for eighty years and might stand for eighty more.” That book was first published in 1959, sixty-one years ago, where one could definitely say that the power of that book alone work would stand for sixty more. She passed away 11 days before I was born, and yet her work still had an effect on me. That shows her power, one that will never diminish.

Unlike Hill House and those that walk alone there, because of her work, she will never be alone. Or forgotten.