She died in her sleep due to heart failure in 1965, when she was only 48 years old. Near the end of her life, Jackson struggled with severe agoraphobia and obesity and remained secluded in her room. Furthermore, Jackson felt estranged from the people of North Bennington, and probably based some of her crueler depictions of village life on her experiences with them. However, Hyman was a controlling husband who had affairs with his students and forced Jackson to act as a conventional wife despite her literary successes. Both husband and wife enjoyed socializing and hosting events, and they had a wide circle of literary friends, which included Ralph Ellison. Hyman worked as a professor at Bennington College, and Jackson spent her time writing. After Hyman and Jackson married, the pair moved to North Bennington, Vermont, where Jackson spent the rest of her life. Hyman was also a lover of literature and would go on to become a successful critic. As a student, Jackson worked for the campus literary magazine, where she met her future husband, Stanley Edgar Hyman.

After briefly attending the University of Rochester, Jackson ultimately completed her degree in 1940 at Syracuse University. I dislike that they didn't show how close and dependent Constance and Merrikat are to one another.Shirley Jackson was born in 1916 in San Francisco to middle-class parents who soon moved the family to Rochester, New York. Anyone want to share opinions and such on the murder of their family?Īlso, I was left scratching my head trying to think how Charles had contacted Constance when they don't have a phone and you barely read them having letters.Įdit: I just finished watching the movie and the book is still far superior than it although I must admit it helped me realize more that the story is more of fear of people, mistrust in the world, clinging onto the person you love because you know they are safe, co-dependency, and other things that I think can be quite beautiful. I read somewhere that the reason the family may have been murdered was because they were abusive or smth? Although, I didn't get that kind of vibe in the book.

I did like the mystery of it of who killed their family, was half shocked when it was Merrikat cuz I was expecting an outsider or smth (maybe even Charles?). Wanting? Like I feel like there should be more, but we are left to be content with what was given to us as an ending. Hi guys! So I just finished reading the book and planning on watching the movie soon.

We have always lived in the castle book