American writer Shirley Jackson is rightfully considered the master of the Gothic novel. Horror, mysteries, ghosts, houses coming to life, murders and ghost predictions can all be found in her novels and short stories. During her short life, Shirley managed to create a whole world where the characters experience mental anguish, fears and suffer from internal demons.
Biography
Shirley Hardy Jackson was born on January 14, 1916 in the USA, San Francisco. Together with her parents - Leslie and Geraldine Jackson - she lived in Burlingame in California. The family was of average income and lived in a small suburb. Later, the town will be reflected in the work of Shirley. Shirley attended high school in New York state, since her family moved to Rochester. In 1934, Jackson graduated from Brighton High School and attended the University of Rochester. After dropping out there, Shirley chose the journalism department at Syracuse University. She received her diploma in 1940.
As a student, Shirley kept a campus literary journal. During this period, she met her future spouse, Stanley Edgar Heymanom. Subsequently, Jackson's husband became a renowned literary critic. Shirley shared little information about her private life. However, it is known from her biography that she and her husband settled in the countryside, in Vermont. Remoteness from the bustling city and solitude contributed to the creative work of the spouses. They had four children: Lawrence, Joanna, Sarah and Barry. Shirley didn't like the fact that her husband was younger. Therefore, in some sources, a later date of her birth appears - 1919. However, biographer Judy Oppenheimer proved that Shirley Jackson was born in 1916.
Later, Shirley, Stanley and their children moved to North Bennington, a city in the state of Vermont. The husband of the famous writer received a professorship at Bennington College. The Hayman family was welcoming and surrounded by talented writers. Shirley and Stanley were very fond of reading and possessed an impressive library, which consisted of many thousands of books.
Shirley Jackson died on August 8, 1965 due to cardiac arrest. She was only 49 years old. During her life, she experienced many neuroses and psychosomatic diseases. In the end, her subtle, creative, sensitive nature could not stand it.
Novels
Shirley Jackson is the author of many novels, stories, works for children, memoirs. Her first novel, The Road Through the Wall, was written in 1948. The work was created based on the childhood memories of a famous writer. Shirley admits that partly through the book she wanted to take revenge on her parents for their narrow-mindedness and greed. The book is about life in the suburban area of California. The action takes place in 1936. The characters in the first Jackson novel have a narrow worldview and consider themselves good citizens. Suburbanites ignore Jewish family and single mother. Once their solitude and the usual order of things are violated, and the life of society changes. Critics have noted Shirley's talent for describing everyday things in an interesting way.
The next book, The Hangman, was published in 1951. The action takes place in a higher humanitarian school, the main character is a newcomer among students. The work turned out to be deeply psychological. It got its name from one of the ancient ballads. The third novel, The Bird's Nest, was written by Jackson in 1954. The book was not easy for her. At the time of its creation, Shirley suffered from insomnia and various pains, as well as paranoia. The set of symptoms coincided with those observed in one of the characters. Jackson even had to take a break from his work on the book. She conceived an interesting composition of the novel - each chapter is dedicated to a specific character. Among them are a shy girl with multiple personality disorder and a hypnotist doctor.
The novel "Sundial" was published in 1958. He talks about a family whose head was killed. Different inhabitants of a rich estate have their own versions of what happened to the owner. The house itself becomes one of the suspects. The novel is full of mysticism, ghosts and mysteries. The gothic horror novel The Ghost of the Hill House, written in 1959, draws on the relationship between mysterious events in the house and the mental state of its inhabitants. Jackson received the National Literary Prize for him. The plot of the novel was taken as the basis for several adaptations. The book has been translated into many languages of the world and has brought wide popularity to the writer.
The 1962 book We Always Lived in the Castle became the last novel of the writer. Jackson dedicated her work to publisher Pascal Kovici. The story is told by the girl Mary Catherine Blackwood. She lives with her sister and uncle on the Vermont estate. Tragedy breaks into the life of the family, which separates them from the inhabitants of the surrounding area. The novel is rightfully considered a masterpiece and was filmed.
Stories
Shirley Jackson has created 4 storybooks. The first of these, published in 1949, is called The Lottery and Other Stories. It includes 25 stories. This is the only collection published during Jackson's lifetime. The first title of the book was The Lottery or The Adventures of James Harris. A character with this name appears in the stories "Demon Lover", "How Mother Did", "Elizabeth" and "Of course".
The next collection, The Magic of Shirley Jackson, was released in 1966. After 2 years, the collection "Come with me" was released. It includes the unfinished novel of the same name, 3 lectures and 16 short stories in the Gothic genre. Stanley Hyman wrote the foreword to the publication. The book was included in the New York Times Book Review as Best Fiction of 1968.
The collection "Just an Ordinary Day" was released in 1995. Here are stories of psychological anguish and humorous family sketches that the children of the writer discovered after her untimely death.
