
The Letters of Shirley Jackson
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $24.75
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kirsten Potter
-
Gary Bennett
-
Linda Jones
About this listen
A bewitchingly brilliant collection of never-before-published letters from the renowned author of "The Lottery" and The Haunting of Hill House
i must stop writing letters and get to writing a novel.
Shirley Jackson is one of the most important American authors of the last hundred years and among our greatest chroniclers of the female experience. This extraordinary compilation of personal correspondence has all the hallmarks of Jackson’s beloved fiction: flashes of the uncanny in the domestic, sparks of horror in the quotidian, and the veins of humor that run through good times and bad.
i am having a fine time doing a novel with my left hand and a long story - with as many levels as grand central station - with my right hand, stirring chocolate pudding with a spoon held in my teeth, and tuning the television with both feet.
Written over the course of nearly three decades, from Jackson’s college years to six days before her early death at the age of 48, these letters become the autobiography Shirley Jackson never wrote. As well as being a best-selling author, Jackson spent much of her adult life as a mother of four in Vermont, and the landscape here is often the everyday: raucous holidays and trips to the dentist, overdue taxes and frayed lines of Christmas lights, new dogs and new babies. But in recounting these events to family, friends, and colleagues, she turns them into remarkable stories: entertaining, revealing, and wise. At the same time, many of these letters provide fresh insight into the genesis and progress of Jackson’s writing over nearly three decades.
The novel is getting sadder. It’s always such a strange feeling - I know something’s going to happen, and those poor people in the book don’t; they just go blithely on their ways.
Compiled and edited by her elder son, Laurence Jackson Hyman, in consultation with Jackson scholar Bernice M. Murphy, this intimate collection holds the beguiling prism of Shirley Jackson - writer and reader, mother and daughter, neighbor and wife - up to the light.
©2021 Shirley Jackson (P)2021 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Just an Ordinary Day
- Stories
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter, Mark Deakins, Kimberly Farr, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed in her own time for her short story “The Lottery” and her novel The Haunting of Hill House - classics ranking with the work of Edgar Allan Poe - Shirley Jackson blazed a path for contemporary writers with her explorations of evil, madness, and cruelty. Soon after her untimely death in 1965, Jackson’s children discovered a treasure trove of previously unpublished and uncollected stories, many of which are brought together in this remarkable collection.
-
-
Captures a Bygone Era
- By Anonymous User on 11-11-22
By: Shirley Jackson
-
Life Among the Savages
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Lesa Lockford
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her celebrated fiction, Shirley Jackson explored the darkness lurking beneath the surface of small-town America. But in Life Among the Savages, she takes on the lighter side of small-town life. In this witty and warm memoir of her family's life in rural Vermont, she delightfully exposes a domestic side in cheerful contrast to her quietly terrifying fiction. With a novelist's gift for character, an unfailing maternal instinct, and her signature humor, Jackson turns everyday family experiences into brilliant adventures.
-
-
Stories From A Quirky Family
- By Sara on 01-23-16
By: Shirley Jackson
-
The Sundial
- By: Shirley Jackson, Victor LaValle - foreword
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter, Dion Graham
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the Halloran clan gathers at the family home for a funeral, no one is surprised when the somewhat peculiar Aunt Fanny wanders off into the secret garden. But then she returns to report an astonishing vision of an apocalypse from which only the Hallorans and their hangers-on will be spared, and the family finds itself engulfed in growing madness, fear, and violence as they prepare for a terrible new world.
-
-
far too long , not a single likeable character
- By Pam on 05-21-24
By: Shirley Jackson, and others
-
Let Me Tell You
- New Stories, Essays, and Other Writings
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter, Gary Bennett, Mark Deakins, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shirley Jackson is one of the most important American writers of the last hundred years. Since her death in 1965, her place in the landscape of twentieth-century fiction has grown only more exalted. As we approach the centenary of her birth comes this astonishing compilation of fifty-six pieces—more than forty of which have never been published before. Two of Jackson’s children co-edited this volume, culling through the vast archives of their mother’s papers at the Library of Congress, selecting only the very best for inclusion.
-
-
Surprise!
- By Donea Clancy on 02-02-23
By: Shirley Jackson
-
Hangsaman
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventeen-year-old Natalie Waite longs to escape home for college. Her father is a domineering and egotistical writer who keeps a tight rein on Natalie and her long-suffering mother. When Natalie finally does get away, however, college life doesn’t bring the happiness she expected. Little by little, Natalie is no longer certain of anything - even where reality ends and her dark imaginings begin. Chilling and suspenseful, Hangsaman is loosely based on the real-life disappearance of a Bennington College sophomore in 1946.
-
-
Julia Whelan’s narration in sweet perfection …
- By Karenique on 12-29-21
By: Shirley Jackson
-
The Road Through the Wall
- By: Shirley Jackson, Ruth Franklin - foreword
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pepper Street is a really nice, safe California neighborhood. The houses are tidy, and the lawns are neatly mowed. Of course, the country club is close by, and lots of pleasant folks live there. The only problem is they knocked down the wall at the end of the street to make way for a road to a new housing development. Now, that’s not good - it’s just not good at all. Satirically exploring what happens when a smug suburban neighborhood is breached by awful, unavoidable truths, The Road Through the Wall is the tale that launched Shirley Jackson’s heralded career.
-
-
Ugh
- By MishiB on 03-27-24
By: Shirley Jackson, and others
-
Just an Ordinary Day
- Stories
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter, Mark Deakins, Kimberly Farr, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed in her own time for her short story “The Lottery” and her novel The Haunting of Hill House - classics ranking with the work of Edgar Allan Poe - Shirley Jackson blazed a path for contemporary writers with her explorations of evil, madness, and cruelty. Soon after her untimely death in 1965, Jackson’s children discovered a treasure trove of previously unpublished and uncollected stories, many of which are brought together in this remarkable collection.
-
-
Captures a Bygone Era
- By Anonymous User on 11-11-22
By: Shirley Jackson
-
Life Among the Savages
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Lesa Lockford
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her celebrated fiction, Shirley Jackson explored the darkness lurking beneath the surface of small-town America. But in Life Among the Savages, she takes on the lighter side of small-town life. In this witty and warm memoir of her family's life in rural Vermont, she delightfully exposes a domestic side in cheerful contrast to her quietly terrifying fiction. With a novelist's gift for character, an unfailing maternal instinct, and her signature humor, Jackson turns everyday family experiences into brilliant adventures.
-
-
Stories From A Quirky Family
- By Sara on 01-23-16
By: Shirley Jackson
-
The Sundial
- By: Shirley Jackson, Victor LaValle - foreword
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter, Dion Graham
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the Halloran clan gathers at the family home for a funeral, no one is surprised when the somewhat peculiar Aunt Fanny wanders off into the secret garden. But then she returns to report an astonishing vision of an apocalypse from which only the Hallorans and their hangers-on will be spared, and the family finds itself engulfed in growing madness, fear, and violence as they prepare for a terrible new world.
-
-
far too long , not a single likeable character
- By Pam on 05-21-24
By: Shirley Jackson, and others
-
Let Me Tell You
- New Stories, Essays, and Other Writings
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter, Gary Bennett, Mark Deakins, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shirley Jackson is one of the most important American writers of the last hundred years. Since her death in 1965, her place in the landscape of twentieth-century fiction has grown only more exalted. As we approach the centenary of her birth comes this astonishing compilation of fifty-six pieces—more than forty of which have never been published before. Two of Jackson’s children co-edited this volume, culling through the vast archives of their mother’s papers at the Library of Congress, selecting only the very best for inclusion.
-
-
Surprise!
- By Donea Clancy on 02-02-23
By: Shirley Jackson
-
Hangsaman
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventeen-year-old Natalie Waite longs to escape home for college. Her father is a domineering and egotistical writer who keeps a tight rein on Natalie and her long-suffering mother. When Natalie finally does get away, however, college life doesn’t bring the happiness she expected. Little by little, Natalie is no longer certain of anything - even where reality ends and her dark imaginings begin. Chilling and suspenseful, Hangsaman is loosely based on the real-life disappearance of a Bennington College sophomore in 1946.
-
-
Julia Whelan’s narration in sweet perfection …
- By Karenique on 12-29-21
By: Shirley Jackson
-
The Road Through the Wall
- By: Shirley Jackson, Ruth Franklin - foreword
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pepper Street is a really nice, safe California neighborhood. The houses are tidy, and the lawns are neatly mowed. Of course, the country club is close by, and lots of pleasant folks live there. The only problem is they knocked down the wall at the end of the street to make way for a road to a new housing development. Now, that’s not good - it’s just not good at all. Satirically exploring what happens when a smug suburban neighborhood is breached by awful, unavoidable truths, The Road Through the Wall is the tale that launched Shirley Jackson’s heralded career.
-
-
Ugh
- By MishiB on 03-27-24
By: Shirley Jackson, and others
-
The Bird's Nest
- By: Shirley Jackson, Kevin Wilson - foreword
- Narrated by: Linda Jones, Mark Bramhall
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elizabeth is a demure 23-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.
-
-
Great audio version
- By jaspersu on 10-21-21
By: Shirley Jackson, and others
-
The Haunting of Hill House
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Four seekers have come to the ugly, abandoned old mansion: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of the psychic phenomenon called haunting; Theodora, his lovely and lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a lonely, homeless girl well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the adventurous future heir of Hill House.
-
-
Well written horror tale
- By C K White on 02-11-14
By: Shirley Jackson
-
Dark Tales
- By: Shirley Jackson, Ottessa Moshfegh - foreword
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter, Kimberly Farr, Karissa Vacker, and others
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the publication of her short story “The Lottery” in the New Yorker in 1948 received an unprecedented amount of attention, Shirley Jackson was quickly established as a master horror storyteller. This collection of classic and newly reprinted stories provides listeners with more of her unsettling, dark tales, including the “The Possibility of Evil” and “The Summer People”.
-
-
Spoilerific Foreword
- By Erik N on 10-29-21
By: Shirley Jackson, and others
-
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Six years after four family members died of arsenic poisoning, the three remaining Blackwoods—elder, agoraphobic sister Constance; wheelchair-bound Uncle Julian; and 18-year-old Mary Katherine, or, Merricat—live together in pleasant isolation. Merricat has developed an idiosyncratic system of rules and protective magic to guard the estate against intrusions from hostile villagers. But one day a stranger arrives—cousin Charles, with his eye on the Blackwood fortune.
-
-
The narration changed my interpretation
- By jaspersu on 10-28-12
By: Shirley Jackson
-
Shirley Jackson
- A Rather Haunted Life
- By: Ruth Franklin
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 19 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Known to millions mainly as the author of the "The Lottery", Shirley Jackson has been curiously absent from the mainstream American literary canon. A genius of literary suspense and psychological horror, Jackson plumbed the cultural anxiety of postwar America more deeply than anyone. Ruth Franklin reveals the tumultuous life and inner darkness of the author of The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
-
-
An incredible writer; a courageous woman
- By Lesley on 10-08-16
By: Ruth Franklin
-
The Best of Me
- By: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For more than 25 years, David Sedaris has been carving out a unique literary space, virtually creating his own genre. A Sedaris story may seem confessional, but is also highly attuned to the world outside. It opens our eyes to what is at absurd and moving about our daily existence. And it is almost impossible to listen without laughing.
-
-
Almost No New Material
- By Lizardectomy on 11-05-20
By: David Sedaris
-
The Answer Is...
- Reflections on My Life
- By: Alex Trebek
- Narrated by: Ken Jennings, Alex Trebek
- Length: 4 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Longtime Jeopardy! host and television icon Alex Trebek reflects on his life and career. The book combines illuminating personal anecdotes with Trebek’s thoughts on a range of topics, including marriage, parenthood, education, success, spirituality, and philanthropy. Trebek also addresses the questions he gets asked most often by Jeopardy! fans, such as what prompted him to shave his signature mustache, his insights on legendary players like Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer, and his opinion of Will Ferrell’s Saturday Night Live impersonation.
-
-
AMAZING.
- By Anonymous User on 07-21-20
By: Alex Trebek
-
Apropos of Nothing
- By: Woody Allen
- Narrated by: Woody Allen
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this candid and hilarious memoir, the celebrated director, comedian, writer, and actor offers a comprehensive, personal look at his tumultuous life. He revisits his entire 60-year-long career as a writer and director, from his classics Annie Hall, Manhattan, and Hannah and Her Sisters to his most recent films, including Midnight in Paris. He discusses his marriages, romances, and famous friendships, his jazz playing, and his books and plays. We learn about his demons, his mistakes, his successes, and those he loved, worked with, and learned from.
-
-
Totally Woody
- By Ronald R. Kubiak on 04-19-20
By: Woody Allen
-
The Copenhagen Trilogy
- Childhood; Youth; Dependency
- By: Tove Ditlevsen, Tiina Nunnally - translator, Michael Favala Goldman - translator
- Narrated by: Stine Wintlev
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Called "a masterpiece" by The Guardian, this courageous and honest trilogy from Tove Ditlevsen, a pioneer in the field of genre-bending confessional writing, explores themes of family, sex, motherhood, abortion, addiction, and being an artist. This program contains all three volumes of her memoirs.
-
-
Masterpiece
- By David Batcher on 03-21-21
By: Tove Ditlevsen, and others
-
When Things Get Dark
- Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson
- By: Ellen Datlow - editor
- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella, Cassandra Campbell, Erin Moon, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A chilling anthology in tribute to the genius of Shirley Jackson. Shirley Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery fiction, whose legacy resonates globally today. Chilling, human, poignant, and strange, her stories have inspired a generation of writers and listeners. This anthology, edited by legendary horror editor Ellen Datlow, brings together today’s leading horror writers to offer their own personal tribute to the work of Shirley Jackson.
-
-
Come for the Oates, stay for the rest!
- By Rebecca Rowland, author on 12-23-21
-
The Plot
- A Novel
- By: Jean Hanff Korelitz
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written—let alone published—anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then...he hears the plot.
-
-
Should be called "The Plod", not The Plot
- By SB on 05-11-21
-
Shy
- The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers
- By: Mary Rodgers, Jesse Green
- Narrated by: Christine Baranski, Jesse Green
- Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“What am I, bologna?” Mary Rodgers (1931-2014) often said. She was referring to being stuck in the middle of a talent sandwich: the daughter of one composer and the mother of another. And not just any composers. Her father was Richard Rodgers, perhaps the greatest American melodist; her son, Adam Guettel, a worthy successor. What that leaves out is Mary herself, also a composer, whose musical Once Upon a Mattress remains one of the rare revivable Broadway hits written by a woman. Shy is the story of how it all happened.
-
-
What a fun book!
- By Erik B. Rinderle on 09-17-23
By: Mary Rodgers, and others
Critic reviews
“A work of art in its own right...as vivid and subversive as her fiction.” (Chicago Review of Books)
“The Letters of Shirley Jackson offers so much more than a simple peek behind the curtain of one of the most important literary lives of the 20th century. Her letters are full of warmth and insight while displaying her uncompromising wit and talent, as well as a melancholic, haunted vulnerability.... A book to be cherished and reread.” (Paul Tremblay)
“[Jackson’s] fiction, full of misanthropy, madness, and murder, tends to be viewed through the lens of her personal torments and, more generally, of the misogyny of the age. What is striking about Jackson’s letters, however, is that while they testify to pretty outrageous domestic double standards...they show very little sign of unhappiness. The mood of the missives is buoyant, garrulous, and eager to amuse, and while Jackson often seems stressed and exasperated, she’s rarely despairing.... The labors of domesticity and artistry are fused in these letters in a way that seems to me unique.” (The Wall Street Journal)
"Many writers feel that the self who writes exists in a partially unknowable state, separate from the self who goes about her worldly business, talking with friends and colleagues, cooking dinner, ferrying her children around. With Jackson, the division seems especially vivid.... [Here], the inner world that writes gives voice to the outer world that doesn’t.” (The New York Times Book Review)
What listeners say about The Letters of Shirley Jackson
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- LDH
- 08-29-21
Outstanding
Highly recommended to all fans of Shirley Jackson. I read the biography first which I found helpful in appreciating her letters. The reader was excellent. One of the very best audible selections.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 04-23-24
a complimentary addition to the wonderful biography about her
I love Shirley Jackson and her stories since whenever I first started reading them. After readin her biography, this book gives a great ucut view of things from Jackson herself. It's heartbreaking to hear about her troubled marriage to Stanley, and heartwarming to witness the love and care she has for her children. And not enough goes into her thoughts and ideas about writing.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 08-14-21
Family Life
When I realized that most of these letters were written to Jackson's parents I was disappointed. Where was the literary gossip you'd expect from a writer of her stature? Instead of recounting feuds, she wrote about her children, and her quiet life in Vermont. As the book progressed, I found myself entranced. It turned out that I liked keeping up with her four kids, each of whom was unique and interesting. Jackson was a good mother--an all-time great one, maybe-- and that's what the book is ultimately about.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lisa
- 01-12-25
Heartbreaking and Insightful.
From her abusive mother to her abusively jealous of her gifts husband, Shirley Jackson broke my heart so many times in these letters. Even a kindred spirited pen pal and assumed friend dumped her. I wish I could have told her how wonderful and talented she is. I would have been honored if she had given me the time of day.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nikki D
- 07-18-21
Shirley Jackson was a force
Perhaps there will be a book with more letters from both sides of the conversation or her letters will be printed in their entirety but this book (and its narrator) brought her wit and charm and strength into my life and I am forever changed.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- CharlieBear
- 08-10-21
Edited by her son to exclude all marital strife
Shirley Jackson's abusive relationships with her husband and mother were massive contributing factor to her life and work, as well as her mental and physical health. All of that is omitted here, very much like reading the society column instead of the front page when world War III has been declared
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful