HANGSAMAN

by Shirley Jackson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 23, 1951

An inward, involuted transcript of a young girl, in the progression between adolescence and maturity, as an emotional exposure to certain relationships completes a cycle. For Natalie Waite, seventeen and off to college, emerges from a protective, possessive environment created by her father, a humorless man overly concerned with his opinions, his comfort, and his only daughter. At college, she is first a witness to the caustic counterpoint between Arthur Langdon, her professor, and Elizabeth, his wife, who finds an easy escape, in alcohol, from the aura of adulation Arthur inspires and encourages. Later, in an interlude with another girl, she is drawn toward, but evades in time, a lesbian experience, through this acquires a certain assurance of self... Often oblique, occasionally obscure, this is a percussion of off-key personalities which is haunting, curious, effective.

Pub Date: April 23, 1951

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Young

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1951

Categories: FICTION