By Shirley Jackson
Paperback - £8.99
First published in 1953, Life Among The Savages is an autobiographical work from American writer Shirley Jackson. Best known for her tales of horror and mystery, Jackson enjoyed a prolific career and remains an inspiration for many writers today. Since she first broke onto the literary scene with her novel The Road Through The Wall, she has shocked and thrilled readers for decades.
Although Life Among The Savages diverges from such works, Jackson manages to record everyday events from her own life and furnish them with her wry sense of humour in a way that is highly entertaining. Whether it be going into hospital to give birth, dropping her daughter off at a birthday party, or taking her son to buy clothes, Jackson is able to take an ordinary occurrence and make it worth reading.
Jackson’s husband and children star as an amusing and enjoyable main cast; the author describes altercations over dinner, problems at school with children, parents and teachers, and the general imaginative elaborations of the whole family. This classic portrait of a mid-twentieth century American family still has the potential to delight and enthral.