“Well, when she does all the thinking and knowing, won’t I be … dead?” (Jackson 241).
Twenty-three-year-old Elizabeth Richmond lives an ordinary life. Orphaned and living with her maiden aunt Morgen, Elizabeth spends her days working at a museum and living off of her dead mother’s inheritance, but strange things have started to occur. Threatening letters have been left for her at work, she has started to suffer from migraines and backaches, and after a disastrous dinner party that Elizabeth only has vague recollection of her aunt decides to send her to a psychiatrist to figure out what’s wrong, no one predicting what they’ll discover.
I love Shirley Jackson, so it pains me to say that I wasn’t a huge fan of The Bird’s Nest. It still has her style and wit and is wonderfully well-written, so even being disappointed by a Shirley Jackson novel isn’t all bad. Still though, I’d hoped this one would be a hidden winner like Hangsaman was when I read it last year for the same group’s read-a-long, but I guess not every book by one of your favourite author’s can be a winner.
I think it’s a story of it’s time. Spoiler alert, but the main plot point surround The Bird’s Nest is that it involves the character Elizabeth being diagnosed with Disassociated Identity Disorder (then called multiple personality disorder). Discussion of multiple personalities had started gaining attention in the 1950s through the cases of Chris Costner Sizemore and Shirley Ardell Mason. The idea of multiple personalities fascinated people at the time which caused movies and books to feature the subject matter, so it makes sense that Jackson who was known for her Horror and Gothic writing would take a stab at it.
I think the book does a well-enough job at the time of understanding Disassociated Identity Disorder as well as the trauma that could have caused it, but I wasn’t a fan of the way the book was formatted. I would have enjoyed a chapter from each of the personalities but we only get those of Elizabeth and Betsy, two from Dr. Wright (which I could have done without) and one from Aunt Morgen, which I didn’t mind too much. But I loved seeing the difference between Elizabeth and Betsy and thought following the other personalities would have been fascinating. I do like that Jackson explored Elizabeth’s trauma but I would have liked more detail. While the pieces can be put together it’s still incredibly vague, even with the reveal near the end. I am appreciative to the read-a-long group I joined for this for giving an opportunity to discuss the book through and give great clarification on the last chapter which I needed.
So no, The Bird’s Nest was not my favourite of Jackson’s, and while I haven’t read all of her works yet I’ll go out and say this one is the weakest until proven otherwise. But still, it’s Shirley Jackson, and regardless the writing is good and that’s a win for me!
Publication: January 1 1954
Publisher: Arcturus
Pages: 276 pages (Paperback)
Source: Owned
Genre: Fiction, Horror, Gothic, Mystery, Thriller
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤.5
Summary:
Elizabeth is a demure twenty-three-year-old wiling her life away at a dull museum job, living with her neurotic aunt, and subsisting off her dead mother’s inheritance. When Elizabeth begins to suffer terrible migraines and backaches, her aunt takes her to the doctor, then to a psychiatrist. But slowly, and with Jackson’s characteristic chill, we learn that Elizabeth is not just one girl—but four separate, self-destructive personalities. The Bird’s Nest, Jackson’s third novel, develops hallmarks of the horror master’s most unsettling work: tormented heroines, riveting familial mysteries, and a disquieting vision inside the human mind.
Sarah O'Connor 