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! Continue reading →