Shirley Jackson’s biographer on the writer’s ability to find evil in the ordinary

Summary

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NPR's Book of the Day: Shirley Jackson’s Biographer on the Writer’s Ability to Find Evil in the Ordinary

Date: October 29, 2025
Host: Linda Wertheimer; Intro by Andrew Limbong
Guest: Ruth Franklin, author of Shirley: A Rather Haunted Life

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Overview

This episode examines the legacy and inner life of Shirley Jackson, master of domestic horror and psychological suspense, through an interview with her biographer, Ruth Franklin. Franklin discusses Jackson’s ability to uncover darkness in everyday life, the forces that shaped her work, how she balanced two seemingly contradictory writing personas, and why Jackson’s vision remains relevant today.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jackson’s Enduring Influence and the Power of “The Lottery”

• The Lottery continues to shock generations of readers with its depiction of ordinary evil.
• Andrew Limbong recalls the story’s unsettling impact:

  “It’s kind of incredible that a writer could have that kind of power to scare a bunch of kids who were sitting in a well-lit classroom...” [00:08]

2. Why a Biography Now?

• Ruth Franklin notes Jackson was always “in the background” of her reading life; she became compelled to write about Jackson after reading Jackson’s domestic memoirs.
• Franklin found these works revealed the “strictures under which she had to live” as a creative woman in the 1950s:

  “Reading those really gave me... a sense of the quality of life for women, especially creative women like Shirley Jackson in the 1950s. And the strictures under which she had to live.” [02:51]

3. The Origins of Ordinary Evil in Jackson’s Fiction

• Jackson’s literary theme: “simmering under the surface of ordinary life is extraordinary evil.”
• Franklin attributes this worldview to Jackson’s painful childhood, particularly her strained relationship with her mother:

  “She felt unloved and unappreciated in the setting that should have been most secure, her childhood home. And then she brings that anxiety and insecurity about the home into all of her later work.” [03:54]

4. Domestic Terror—Women’s Lives as Subject Matter

• Jackson’s stories aren’t about romance, but about domestic unease and terror.
• Wertheimer contrasts Jackson to Hawthorne and Poe, highlighting her focus on women (not love stories):

  “From our perspective now, the most interesting thing about those stories is that they’re about women, but not romances...they’re domestic terror.” [04:22]

• Franklin notes the danger of social forces acting on women, often beyond their control. In The Haunting of Hill House, for example, the uncanny may be supernatural or psychological:

  “She’s not a romantic heroine… she’s a disturbed spinster who has spent her life taking care of her invalid mother. And is now experiencing her first taste of freedom.” [05:05]

5. The Split Persona: Domestic Humor Versus Psychological Horror

• Jackson also wrote light, humorous essays for women’s magazines, painting a very different picture of her life at home.
• Franklin sees coherence in style and tone, noting a “very dark sense of humor” even in domestic tales:

  “That’s really one of the enduring questions of her career—how could this writer... also have turned out these very bright, charming, funny stories… But... even in these household tales, they’re not sentimentalized at all.” [05:56]

• Franklin calls Jackson a “progenitor of today’s mommy bloggers,” writing openly and unvarnished about family life. [06:18]

6. Jackson’s Creative Process and Sense of Identity

• Jackson wrote stories in her mind while doing daily chores, narrating to herself.
• As a child she kept several diaries under different identities, even writing herself letters as different personas.
• Franklin discovered one such letter misfiled as from an “unknown correspondent,” only to realize it was written by Jackson to herself—a testament to her lifelong exploration of identity:

  “She actually kept a number of different diaries all at the same time, in which she tried out different personas and would even write herself letters using different nicknames for herself.” [06:47]

7. Jackson’s Lasting Message for Today

• Jackson’s vision of human darkness, mob psychology, and the thin veneer of civility remains pertinent.
• Franklin asserts:

  “The reason [The Lottery] has its staying power is because it speaks very strongly to a number of different political situations. Shirley Jackson would not have been surprised by the idea that mob psychology could suddenly take hold in a small town... nothing humans are capable of should be surprising.” [07:35]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Franklin on Jackson’s duality:

  “There’s also something very dark about her sense of humor. Even in these household tales, they’re not sentimentalized at all.” [05:56]

• On the roots of Jackson’s disturbing fiction:

  “She brings that anxiety and insecurity about the home into all of her later work.” [03:54]

• On the relevance of The Lottery:

  “Nothing humans are capable of should be surprising.” [07:54]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:08 — Andrew Limbong recalls his first time reading “The Lottery”
• 02:34 — Franklin’s motivation for writing Jackson’s biography
• 03:39 — Discussing how Jackson’s worldview was shaped by formative experiences
• 04:39 — The unique terror in Jackson’s portrayal of women’s lives
• 05:40 — The light and dark sides of Shirley Jackson’s writing
• 06:32 — Jackson’s creative process and multiple writing personas
• 07:23 — Why Jackson’s work resonates today

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Summary

This illuminating conversation with Ruth Franklin offers a multidimensional portrait of Shirley Jackson—both as a literary innovator who found horror in ordinary life and as a pioneering voice for honest, unsentimental writing about women’s experiences. Franklin’s insights reveal that, far from being simply a genre writer, Jackson explored the anxieties, dangers, and contradictions at the heart of American domestic life—with lessons that remain unnervingly relevant for readers today.

Transcript

[Andrew Limbong]

Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. I was in middle school when I first read Shirley Jackson's the Lottery. I remember feeling genuinely freaked out and scared and looking around at the other kids who were just as spooked as I was. It's kind of incredible that a writer could have that kind of power to scare a bunch of kids who were sitting in a well lit classroom in the middle of an otherwise ordinary school day. But Jackson's biographer Ruth Franklin says Jackson's gift was seeing evil in the most mundane circumstances. Franklin's book Shirley A Rather Haunted Life came out in 2016, and she spoke with NPR's Linda Wertheimer about how Jackson's difficult childhood and her overall unhappiness with her home life fed into her horrific fiction. That's coming up.

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[Linda Wertheimer]

Shirley Jackson was a fairly famous writer. In her short life. She wrote a number of novels, two of them bestsellers, one nominated for the National Book Award. Probably the most famous book was called the Haunting of Hill house, published in 1959. But about a decade earlier, she wrote a short story for the New Yorker magazine, which started conversations all over the country. The story was called the Lottery. There's a new biography of Shirley Jackson by Ruth Franklin. Franklin is a critic and writer whose work has also been published in the New Yorker magazine. The book is called Shirley A Rather Haunted Life. Ruth Franklin joins us from our studios in New York City. Thank you for doing this.

[Ruth Franklin]

My pleasure.

[Linda Wertheimer]

So, Ruth Franklin, why did you feel this was a time to write about Shirley Jackson? She's been dead for 50 years. Her work is still mostly in print. So she she's not been forgotten. But I think you'd have to go to someone my age to hear how shocking some of her writing was at the time it was published. Something like the Lottery.

[Ruth Franklin]

Well, Shirley Jackson has always been one of those writers who's just sort of been in the background for me as long as I can remember. I've been thinking about her work especially, of course, the Lottery. But I Didn't actually really get interested in writing a biography of her. Until I had read some more of her work. Especially her domestic memoirs. Which chronicle her life with her four children and her absent minded professor husband. And reading those really gave me a sense, first of her range, but second, also of the quality of life for women. Especially creative women like Shirley Jackson in the 1950s. And the strictures under which she had to live.

[Linda Wertheimer]

The lottery is a kind of template for some of her other work. Characters that seem ordinary, nice, normal small town folks, but then who participate in a terrible tradition in their village. She said in one of the lectures that you quote something to the effect that simmering under the surface of ordinary life is extraordinary evil. What created this worldview, do you think?

[Ruth Franklin]

I think her tendency to see evil in the most mundane circumstances came from her childhood. She had a difficult childhood, a difficult relationship with her mother especially, who was a socialite who wanted to mold Jack, her image. And it became clear quite early on, I think, that Shirley wasn't going to be the kind of daughter her mother had hoped her to be. So I think there was this kind of fundamental conflict. In which she felt unloved and unappreciated in the setting that should have been most secure, her childhood home. And then she brings that anxiety and insecurity about the home into all of her later work.

[Linda Wertheimer]

She wrote a number of sort of spooky stories. In the tradition of. Well, I don't know, maybe Nathaniel Hawthorne or, ed. Caroline Poe. But I guess from our perspective now, the most interesting thing about those stories is that they're about women, but not romances, not magazine fare. They're domestic terror.

[Ruth Franklin]

That's right. I think she had a real sense that women particularly were subject to social forces. That acted upon their lives in ways in which they couldn't control. And often were quite dangerous. In the Haunting of Hill House, there's a supernatural presence. But we're never quite sure whether it's meant to be real. Or it's the manifestation of the disturbed mind of Eleanor, the main character of the novel. And as you say, of course, she's not a romantic heroine. Or even any kind of heroine at all. She's a disturbed spinster who has spent her life taking care of her invalid mother. And is now experiencing her first taste of freedom.

[Linda Wertheimer]

Shirley Jackson did write for women's magazines like Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal. All of which wanted kind of happy ending stories. This was a Shirley Jackson who was very funny. I mean, these little essays are fun to read, sort of. What do we have here the two sides of Shirley.

[Ruth Franklin]

Yeah, I think that's really one of the enduring questions of her career is how could this writer who is so well known for her psychological suspense, also have turned out these very bright, charming, funny stories of her rambunctious household, of her four kids and her whole menagerie of pets. But in many ways, these are recognizably stories by the same Shirley Jackson. For one thing, her style is very coherent throughout her work. And there's also something very dark about her sense of humor. Even in these household tales, they're not sentimentalized at all. She does not look at her children through rose colored glasses. And, you know, in my book I call her in some ways the progenitor of today's mommy bloggers. And it's because she really was the first writer to write about life with children in this very kind of unvarnished way.

[Linda Wertheimer]

One of her children said she wrote in her head while she was cooking and making beds. She would work out plots and create characters. You talk about her telling stories to herself.

[Ruth Franklin]

Yeah, it's something that I trace going back to Jackson's childhood, when she actually kept a number of different diaries all at the same time, in which she tried out different Personas and would even write herself letters using different nicknames for herself. In fact, one of these letters I found filed in Jackson's archive in the Library of Congress. It was filed in a folder that was labeled Letters from Unknown Correspondence. And when I looked at the letter, I could see that it was from Shirley Jackson herself.

[Linda Wertheimer]

So what does this woman who died in the mid-60s at only 48 years old, what does she have to say to us now?

[Ruth Franklin]

I think Shirley Jackson has a lot to say to us today, especially her vision of the darkness in human nature. The Lottery remains a story that is read by so many students, and I think the reason it has its staying power is because it speaks very strongly to a number of different political situations. Shirley Jackson would not have been surprised by the idea that mob psychology could suddenly take hold in a small town. This is what she was always telling us. In short, that nothing humans are capable of should be surprising.

[Linda Wertheimer]

Ruth Franklin's book is called Shirley A Rather Haunted Life. Thank you very much.

[Ruth Franklin]

Thank you.

[Andrew Limbong]

And just a reminder that signing up for Book of the Day plus is a great way to support NPR's book coverage and public media. And you'll get to listen to every episode sponsor free. So please go find out [e-mail] BookOfTheDay.

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