The Bird's Nest

A young woman named Elizabeth Richmond lives with her aunt Morgen following the death of her mother. She is employed in a simple clerical job at a museum but she is mentally unsteady and eventually is sent to a doctor acting as a mental health therapist, Dr. Wright. Gradually, the doctor realizes that Elizabeth is suffering from dissociative personality (multiple personalities), including Elizabeth (crippling withdrawn), Beth (childlike and seeking to please), Betsy (at first portrayed as evil and in thrall to the devil but later seen as a naughty child, and finally Bess (a powerful person obsessed with her inheritance and with controlling the others. The various personalities play tricks, run away, refuse to cooperate, and so on, making the doctor’s life quite miserable and confusing Morgen. Eventually, it is revealed that the mother’s neglect and a man named Robin’s abuse, and the mother’s death (never explained) have driven the girl into mental illness. Jackson hints that Elizabeth had some role in her mother’s death but it is never made clear. Much of the story is revealed through the doctor’s very wordy and self-congratulating comments, and the resolution, when it comes, seems too quick and easy.

This is an extraordinary novel about Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), written by the incomparable Shirley Jackson (in 1954!) No one was talking about MPD then, not even therapists. It never actually gained full recognition as a “real” disorder; in the DSM 4 it was classified as DDNOS (dissociative disorder not otherwise specified). The Bird’s Nest is told from several points of view, including 3 of “Elizabeth’s” personalities, as well as her therapist’s and her aunt’s. It is a truly compelling work: compulsively readable and very thought-provoking. I couldn’t put it down. As far as I know, it is the only novel about MPD, although there are numerous biographies and autobiographies, such as the famous Three Faces of Eve (made into a movie of the same name) and Sybil. The best of these is The Flock by Joan Casey, written in 1991. There are also a number of books about MPD itself, rather than about any particular multiple, including Multiple Personality, Allied Disorders and Hypnosis by Eugene Bliss, Childhood Antecedents of Multiple Personality by Richard Kluft, and Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder by Frank Putnam. These last two are two of the very best clinical works on the subject.The Bird’s Nest is a remarkable book, challenging and revelatory. Unlike other books featuring MPD, it has a very well-crafted plot that swiftly sweeps the reader along, just like white-water rafting. I can’t recommend this highly enough. If you are interested in the mystery of the self, then this book is for you.

I did like this, especially since it dealt with a subject that was relatively new to the public at the time.There are loose threads to the narrative. It is hinted at that Elizabeth's mother may have been neglectful. What was the relationship to Robin and the unspecified trauma? What was the nature of Elizabeth's mother's death.Dr Wright did not seem very realistic but that seems to be Shirley Jackson's wry way of dealing with authority figures in her works. His notes were more personal reactions to the various personalities rather than objective observations of a clinician regarding a case.Still, it was a good read and the suspense of wanting to see what happens next propels the reader onward. It is also a pioneering effort to a still misunderstood and over-diagnosed (in recent years) psychological disorder.A must for any hardcore Shirley Jackson fan.

Too, too too much dialogue! Also the conflict was not really resolved in a realistic way. I read her "family" pieces and for the most part liked them, but they also had lots and lots of dialogue. I won't be reading horror stories so, at this point my curiosity is satisfied about this author. I don't think that she's so brilliant really. This book was tedious to get through!

This is about a woman with multiple personalities. But what makes this book especially fascinating is that it came out years before the case of The Three Faces of Eve became known and decades before Sybil. She seems to have based this on a book by Dr. Morton Prince called The Dissociation of a Personality published in 1906. A really rare early look at multiple personalities with great Shirley Jackson writing. To be clear, this is a fiction book.

I have always been interested in "physchological" novels, and nothing beats Shirley Jackson. I prefer her tales like The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, but The Birds Nest is also a favorite. I wanted to smack the main character often, and the doctor was kind of pompous, and the Aunt also had her mental problems. I still loved it and wanted it to work out well for them.

This is the master at work. Like Jane Austen's "Sanditon," Jackson's unfinished novel at the time of her death is one of the great losses for those who cherish good writing.

Shirley Jackson is a true genius, with a plot that intrigues and mesmerizes. While written and placed in a much older time period, the story of multiple personalities still resonates. Fascinating study and ALL characters are fully written. If you have only read "The Lottery" from Jackson, this is a must-add to your list.

I am a huge fan of Shirley Jackson and her novel "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" was deeply unsettling to read. (The hairs on my arm actually stood up for an entire chapter.) With this novel, however, I do not feel that same sense of unease (probably because the blurb on the back of the book and on Amazon kinda spoils it before you even get to read the first few pages), but it is still very well written and definitely feels creepy.The book is told from varying perspectives and one of these is the doctor treating Elizabeth. I enjoyed reading it from the doctor's perspective; Shirley captures his professional voice exquisitely, which makes the novel very Victorian-esque in its diction. Its interesting to see the character development through multiple lenses (even if you have an idea of what's going to happen). There is definitely a slower build with this book than I noticed with "We Have Always Lived in the Castle," which makes reading some sections a bit tedious (the doctor's accounts of interviewing and hypnotising Elizabeth repeatedly gets somewhat dull after a few pages). We should note, however, that this novel in the *middle* of her bibliography, so in my opinion, it forecasts the great heights of her later works (The Haunting of Hill House, We Have Always Lived in the Castle) even if it is not her strongest novel.

This book is a great account of a problem that I believe is more common than people know. Shirley Jackson can make a cook book scary, and I love to be sucked and sunk into her unexpectedly dark worlds. She has been my favorite for years I love to be frightened or amused by her wonderful works. Her early death deprived us of many thrilling stories.

Book in great condition.

Excelente libro, el único problema es que venía maltratado de la parte de atrás.

Sometimes a bit hard to follow....but an enjoyable read. I liked the interaction between the Doctor Awright and the girls.