Book Review: In The Bird's Nest Shirley Jackson seems to have attempted her most traditional novel, but being Jackson it's still constructed of uneven edges and mismatched colors. Characters, both main and bit players, act in unexpected and unpredictable ways. Nothing is ever quite as it seems or as the reader expects it to be. Everything's just a little off. Even so The Bird's Nest follows a linear plot to a somewhat underwhelming climax and conclusion -- which is also not what I expected. And at the end, the cure diminishes our protagonist, she is less than she was. But the journey is well worth the read, and any Shirley Jackson fan will have to read this to encounter the versions of her themes she weaves into this book. Here again is the maturing young girl of Hangsaman, the sympathetic magic of We Have Always Lived in the Castle, the middle class proprieties of The Road Through the Wall. For me, the strongest element of The Bird's Nest is how Jackson manifests the psychological as tangible, the reader can see and touch the psychic and psychological aspects, perhaps even more so than in The Haunting of Hill House. Also, no character is perfectly capable, strong, or unflawed. And as Jackson does, the houses and buildings tell their own tales, everything seen, touched, or heard sends a message. Maybe this just misses being one of Shirley Jackson's top three reads, but holds an interest all its own. (The Bird's Nest was made into a movie, Lizzie, but I couldn't find that it's available -- unfortunately it came out about the same time as the similar The Three Faces of Eve). [3.5 Stars]
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