Shirley

Susan Scarf Merrell

ISBN 10: 0399166459 / ISBN 13: 9780399166457

Published by Blue Rider Press, 2014

About this Item

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARING ELIZABETH MOS AND MICHAEL STUHLBARG Susan Scarf Merrell brilliantly weaves events from Shirley Jackson's life into a hypnotic story line* in this darkly thrilling novel about the author of The Haunting of Hill House and The Lottery.Two imposing literary figures are at the heart of this captivating novel: celebrated author Shirley Jackson and her husband, Stanley Edgar Hyman, a literary critic and professor at Bennington College. When a young graduate student and his pregnant wife--Fred and Rose Nemser--move into Shirley and Stanley's home in the fall of 1964, they quickly fall under the magnetic spell of their brilliant and unconventional hosts. While Fred becomes preoccupied with his teaching schedule, Rose forms an unlikely, turbulent friendship with the troubled and unpredictable Shirley. Fascinated by the Hymans' volatile marriage and inexplicable drawn to the darkly enigmatic author, Rose nonetheless senses something amiss--something to do with nightly unanswered phone calls and inscrutable accounts of a long-missing female student. Chillingly atmospheric and evocative of Jackson's own classic stories, Shirley is an elegant thriller with one of America's greatest horror writers at its heart. *The Washington Post.

Seller Inventory # 00105114485

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Shirley
• Publisher: Blue Rider Press
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0399166459
• ISBN 13: 9780399166457
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: Fair

About this title

Synopsis

Two imposing literary figures are at the center of this captivating novel: the celebrated Shirley Jackson, best known for her short story “The Lottery,” and her husband, Stanley Edgar Hyman, a literary critic and professor at Bennington College. When a young graduate student and his pregnant wife—Fred and Rose Nemser—move into Shirley and Stanley’s home in the fall of 1964, they are quickly cast under the magnetic spell of their brilliant and proudly unconventional hosts.

While Fred becomes preoccupied with his teaching schedule, Rose forms an unlikely, turbulent friendship with the troubled and unpredictable Shirley. Fascinated by the Hymans’ volatile marriage and inexplicable drawn to the darkly enigmatic author, Rose nonetheless senses something amiss—something to do with nightly unanswered phone calls and inscrutable accounts of a long-missing female student. Chillingly atmospheric and evocative of Jackson’s own classic stories, Shirley is an elegant thriller with one of America’s greatest horror writers at its heart.

About the Author

SUSAN SCARF MERRELL is the author of a previous novel, A Member of the Family, and a nonfiction work, The Accidental Bond: How Sibling Connections Influence Adult Relationships. She teaches in the MFA in Creative Writing & Literature at Stony Brook Southampton and is Fiction Editor of TSR: The Southampton Review.