The Birds Nest, Shirley Jackson
The Birds Nest, Shirley Jackson
List: $20.00 | Sale: $14.00
Club: $10.00

The Bird's Nest

Author: Shirley Jackson, Kevin Wilson

Narrator: Linda Jones, Mark Bramhall

Unabridged: 10 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 10/19/2021


Synopsis

Shirley Jackson's third novel, a chilling descent into multiple personalities

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.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

About The Author

Shirley Jackson (1916–1965) received wide critical acclaim for her short story “The Lottery,” which was first published in the New Yorker in 1948. Her works available from Penguin Classics include We Have Always Lived in the Castle, The Haunting of Hill House, and Come Along with Me and Life Among the Savages available from Penguin. Kevin Wilson is the bestselling author of The Family Fang and the recipient of a Shirley Jackson Award for his story collection Tunneling to the Center of the Earth. His writing has appeared in Tin House, One Story, and other publications. He lives in Sewanee, Florida.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Michael on October 01, 2017

The more I read by Shirley Jackson, the more of a fan I become. This is a masterful character study of a woman with multiple personalities--told (as is fitting) from multiple perspectives. Shirley Jackson once again proves herself to be the queen of creepy, the dame of disquiet. I give it 4 stars in......more

Goodreads review by Candi on February 17, 2021

2.5 stars "Elizabeth, Beth, Betsy, and Bess, they all went together to find a bird’s nest…" There’s no denying that Shirley Jackson was the mistress of the bizarre. This book attracted my attention immediately. What could be more disturbing than a story about a young woman with multiple personalities......more

Goodreads review by emma on March 04, 2021

Once upon a time, there was me. The aforementioned me (hereafter referred to as I for the sake of grammar) was walking through an airport, wearing two masks and holding hand sanitizer, when I was stopped dead in my tracks. I had thought that all airport bookstores were relegated to the likes of the d......more

Goodreads review by Djali on November 20, 2024

Il mio primo dell’autrice, mi ha ricordato Nabokov e Carrère. Ho riso di gusto quando Betsy e il “Dr. Wrong” si punzecchiavano durante le sedute, sicuramente R3 è la personalità più interessante delle quattro.......more

Goodreads review by Ellie on December 12, 2024

Loved!!! Wish I had more by this author 😭......more


Quotes

"Undeniably brilliant . . . superlative entertainment; much the best book Shirley Jackson has written."
New York Herald Tribune

"Shirley Jackson's best novel.... The Bird's Nest is brilliant, swift, at times immensely funny, and alternately frightening. Shirley Jackson's portrayal of a personality in disintegration is masterful."
Chicago Tribune