The Bird's Nest
by Shirley Jackson
(Edited) Blurb:
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. The fabric of Elizabeth's reality unravels with terrifying speed, and it seems there may be no way to repair the damage and make her whole again.
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.
My Reaction:
I edited the blurb slightly to avoid what may or may not be considered a spoiler. I didn't read a blurb going in, and I certainly didn't know everything that this unedited blurb revealed, but maybe that's not a typical reading experience for this book... In any case, if you want to avoid spoilers altogether, it's probably best not to read this or any other reviews-- though the plot element I'm referring to as a potential spoiler is integral to most of the book, so... Just giving you fair warning, if you want to go in with no preconceptions.
As I mentioned, I didn't know what this book would be about, at all, and it came as a surprise when the central subject became apparent. I feel like I've been unintentionally reading/consuming a lot of fiction, in the past half a year or so, with multiple personalities / dissociative identity disorder as a central subject. Just an odd coincidence, I guess.
Though I've read The Haunting of Hill House, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and a collection of her short stories, this is my first time reading one of Jackson's lesser-known novels. It's clear why this isn't one of her most famous works. It could use some tightening-up; it was at times needlessly repetitive, and the section set in NYC was over-long, in my opinion. There were also a few times where I felt uncertain of the author's objective, and while that can be done intentionally, for effect, I don't believe that was always the case here. There was a whole section about a "practical joke" that felt out of place, as well.
On the other hand, there were several very unsettling moments, juxtaposed against others that were genuinely amusing, if at times rather dark humor. Jackson even managed to pull her trick of writing something that feels uncomfortably familiar-- you know, those times when you recognize aspects of yourself in a character, though not always in a positive way. While I found the ending a bit puzzling, I mostly enjoyed the way it was written. It seemed to come out of nowhere. I wasn't expecting something so evidently hopeful!
(...Well, I found the ending hopeful, anyway. From the reviews I've skimmed since finishing, not everyone agrees on that point. I also feel sympathetic toward both Dr. Wright and Aunt Morgen-- both flawed characters, but human and essentially well-meaning.)
I wouldn't count on this novel's depiction of DID for accuracy; however, I'm not sure what I believe about DID, to begin with-- especially with the way that it's become almost "trendy" with some people today (mainly some bizarre and troubled people on TikTok, from what I've seen). I guess maybe it's real in some cases, but I feel that it must be extremely rare, considering that it's supposed to result from particularly traumatic abuse suffered at a very young age. Videos of people showing off their supposed "alters" seem false and a disgusting bid for attention.
Anyway... I found this novel interesting in parts, but rather weak in others, and more slowly paced than I'd have liked. You can see glimmers of Shirley Jackson's developing style, but it's not her at her best, and it certainly wasn't nearly so much "horror" as you might expect. I wouldn't suggest reading this one until you've first enjoyed her more famous works.
