The Road Through the Wall
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Narrated by:
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Cassandra Campbell
About this listen
The compelling novel that began Shirley Jackson's legendary career.
Pepper Street is a really nice, safe California neighborhood. The houses are tidy, and the lawns are neatly mowed. Of course, the country club is close by, and lots of pleasant folks live there. The only problem is they knocked down the wall at the end of the street to make way for a road to a new housing development. Now, that’s not good - it’s just not good at all. Satirically exploring what happens when a smug suburban neighborhood is breached by awful, unavoidable truths, The Road Through the Wall is the tale that launched Shirley Jackson’s heralded career.
For more than 70 years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers and listeners trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
©2013 Shirley Jackson (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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A beautiful instant classic!
- By MissLynn on 04-15-21
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Cloudy Jewel
- By: Grace Livingston Hill
- Narrated by: Paula Faye Leinweber
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Julia Cloud had a gentle, caring spirit, devoting her life to her Lord Jesus and caring for others, including her invalid mother. After her mother's death she was faced with a bleak life of poverty until an unexpected visit from her wealthy niece and nephew completely changed her life. They were off to college and wanted "Cloudy Jewel", their childhood nickname for Julia, to come and be their mother and chaperone. Thus started a new adventure for all three, full of love and happiness.
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Beautiful Book about Faith and Homemaking
- By Clarinetgal on 06-11-19
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The Great Gatsby
- By: F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: Tanner Buchanan
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Hailed as one of the Great American Novels, The Great Gatsby delves into the dark corners of the Jazz Age to tell a tragic tale of obsession, love, and the gritty underbelly of the American dream. Through the eyes of unassuming narrator Nick Carraway, the story follows the enigmatic Jay Gatsby as he chases the object of his hopeless desire, the beautiful Daisy Buchanan.
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The great American novel!
- By Karen Creeden on 11-12-22
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Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All
- By: Laura Ruby
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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When Frankie’s mother died and her father left her and her siblings at an orphanage in Chicago, it was supposed to be only temporary - just long enough for him to get back on his feet and be able to provide for them once again. That’s why Frankie's not prepared for the day that he arrives for his weekend visit with a new woman on his arm and out-of-state train tickets in his pocket. Now, Frankie and her sister, Toni, are abandoned alongside so many other orphans - two young, unwanted women doing everything they can to survive.
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Boring, boring, boring
- By Marie J. on 08-20-21
By: Laura Ruby
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Life Among the Savages
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Lesa Lockford
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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In her celebrated fiction, Shirley Jackson explored the darkness lurking beneath the surface of small-town America. But in Life Among the Savages, she takes on the lighter side of small-town life. In this witty and warm memoir of her family's life in rural Vermont, she delightfully exposes a domestic side in cheerful contrast to her quietly terrifying fiction. With a novelist's gift for character, an unfailing maternal instinct, and her signature humor, Jackson turns everyday family experiences into brilliant adventures.
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Stories From A Quirky Family
- By Sara on 01-23-16
By: Shirley Jackson
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All-of-a-Kind Family
- By: Sydney Taylor
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 3 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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It's the turn of the 20th century in New York's Lower East Side and a sense of adventure and excitement abounds for five young sisters. Follow along on their adventures and experience their holiday fun.
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Wonderful story about family life.
- By lavenderknitter on 10-27-15
By: Sydney Taylor
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The Last Carolina Girl
- By: Meagan Church
- Narrated by: Susan Bennett
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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For fourteen-year-old Leah Payne, life in her beloved coastal Carolina town is worlds away from the harsh realities of the day. Loyal to her lumberjack father, she knows only of the familiarity of her small community, the magic of the natural world, and the creative intuition that prompts her to march to the beat of her own drum. But when an accident takes her father's life, leaving her an orphan, Leah finds herself cast into a family of strangers whose welcoming façade hides a terrible secret.
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WOW
- By Savannah Brown on 06-10-23
By: Meagan Church
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Lady Oracle
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Lorelei King
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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From fat girl to thin, from red hair to mud brown, from London to Toronto, from Polish count to radical husband - Joan Foster is utterly confused by her life of multiple identities. She decides to escape to an Italian hill town to take stock of her life. But first, she must organize her own death.
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A Feminist Romp
- By annkpowers on 07-02-22
By: Margaret Atwood
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The Godmothers
- A Novel
- By: Camille Aubray
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Meet the Godmothers: Filomena is a clever and resourceful war refugee with a childhood secret, who comes to America to wed Mario, the family's favored son. Amie, a beautiful and dreamy French girl from upstate New York, escapes an abusive husband after falling in love with Johnny, the oldest of the brothers. Lucy, a tough-as-nails Irish nurse, ran away from a strict girls' home and marries Frankie, the sensuous middle son. And the glamorous Petrina, the family's only daughter, graduates with honors from Barnard College despite a past trauma that nearly caused a family scandal.
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Easy Enjoyable Read
- By Bunny on 06-23-21
By: Camille Aubray
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A Different Drummer
- By: William Melvin Kelley
- Narrated by: Jay Smooth
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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June 1957. One hot afternoon in the backwaters of the Deep South, a young black farmer named Tucker Caliban salts his fields, shoots his horse, burns his house, and heads north with his wife and child. His departure sets off an exodus of the state’s entire black population, throwing the established order into brilliant disarray. Told from the points of view of the white residents who remained, A Different Drummer stands, decades after its first publication in 1962, as an extraordinary and prescient triumph of satire and spirit.
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A wonderful and moving story
- By E. on 10-25-19
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Dark Tales
- By: Shirley Jackson, Ottessa Moshfegh - foreword
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter, Kimberly Farr, Karissa Vacker, and others
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
After the publication of her short story “The Lottery” in the New Yorker in 1948 received an unprecedented amount of attention, Shirley Jackson was quickly established as a master horror storyteller. This collection of classic and newly reprinted stories provides listeners with more of her unsettling, dark tales, including the “The Possibility of Evil” and “The Summer People”.
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Spoilerific Foreword
- By Erik N on 10-29-21
By: Shirley Jackson, and others
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Just an Ordinary Day
- Stories
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter, Mark Deakins, Kimberly Farr, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Acclaimed in her own time for her short story “The Lottery” and her novel The Haunting of Hill House - classics ranking with the work of Edgar Allan Poe - Shirley Jackson blazed a path for contemporary writers with her explorations of evil, madness, and cruelty. Soon after her untimely death in 1965, Jackson’s children discovered a treasure trove of previously unpublished and uncollected stories, many of which are brought together in this remarkable collection.
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Captures a Bygone Era
- By Anonymous User on 11-11-22
By: Shirley Jackson
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The Bird's Nest
- By: Shirley Jackson, Kevin Wilson - foreword
- Narrated by: Linda Jones, Mark Bramhall
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Elizabeth is a demure 23-year-old wiling her life away at a dull museum job, living with her neurotic aunt, and subsisting off her dead mother’s inheritance. When Elizabeth begins to suffer terrible migraines and backaches, her aunt takes her to the doctor, then to a psychiatrist. But slowly, and with Jackson’s characteristic chill, we learn that Elizabeth is not just one girl - but four separate, self-destructive personalities.
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Great audio version
- By jaspersu on 10-21-21
By: Shirley Jackson, and others
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Hangsaman
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Seventeen-year-old Natalie Waite longs to escape home for college. Her father is a domineering and egotistical writer who keeps a tight rein on Natalie and her long-suffering mother. When Natalie finally does get away, however, college life doesn’t bring the happiness she expected. Little by little, Natalie is no longer certain of anything - even where reality ends and her dark imaginings begin. Chilling and suspenseful, Hangsaman is loosely based on the real-life disappearance of a Bennington College sophomore in 1946.
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Julia Whelan’s narration in sweet perfection …
- By Karenique on 12-29-21
By: Shirley Jackson
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Life Among the Savages
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Lesa Lockford
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her celebrated fiction, Shirley Jackson explored the darkness lurking beneath the surface of small-town America. But in Life Among the Savages, she takes on the lighter side of small-town life. In this witty and warm memoir of her family's life in rural Vermont, she delightfully exposes a domestic side in cheerful contrast to her quietly terrifying fiction. With a novelist's gift for character, an unfailing maternal instinct, and her signature humor, Jackson turns everyday family experiences into brilliant adventures.
-
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Stories From A Quirky Family
- By Sara on 01-23-16
By: Shirley Jackson
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The Sundial
- By: Shirley Jackson, Victor LaValle - foreword
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter, Dion Graham
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When the Halloran clan gathers at the family home for a funeral, no one is surprised when the somewhat peculiar Aunt Fanny wanders off into the secret garden. But then she returns to report an astonishing vision of an apocalypse from which only the Hallorans and their hangers-on will be spared, and the family finds itself engulfed in growing madness, fear, and violence as they prepare for a terrible new world.
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far too long , not a single likeable character
- By Pam on 05-21-24
By: Shirley Jackson, and others
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Dark Tales
- By: Shirley Jackson, Ottessa Moshfegh - foreword
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter, Kimberly Farr, Karissa Vacker, and others
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the publication of her short story “The Lottery” in the New Yorker in 1948 received an unprecedented amount of attention, Shirley Jackson was quickly established as a master horror storyteller. This collection of classic and newly reprinted stories provides listeners with more of her unsettling, dark tales, including the “The Possibility of Evil” and “The Summer People”.
-
-
Spoilerific Foreword
- By Erik N on 10-29-21
By: Shirley Jackson, and others
-
Just an Ordinary Day
- Stories
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter, Mark Deakins, Kimberly Farr, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed in her own time for her short story “The Lottery” and her novel The Haunting of Hill House - classics ranking with the work of Edgar Allan Poe - Shirley Jackson blazed a path for contemporary writers with her explorations of evil, madness, and cruelty. Soon after her untimely death in 1965, Jackson’s children discovered a treasure trove of previously unpublished and uncollected stories, many of which are brought together in this remarkable collection.
-
-
Captures a Bygone Era
- By Anonymous User on 11-11-22
By: Shirley Jackson
-
The Bird's Nest
- By: Shirley Jackson, Kevin Wilson - foreword
- Narrated by: Linda Jones, Mark Bramhall
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elizabeth is a demure 23-year-old wiling her life away at a dull museum job, living with her neurotic aunt, and subsisting off her dead mother’s inheritance. When Elizabeth begins to suffer terrible migraines and backaches, her aunt takes her to the doctor, then to a psychiatrist. But slowly, and with Jackson’s characteristic chill, we learn that Elizabeth is not just one girl - but four separate, self-destructive personalities.
-
-
Great audio version
- By jaspersu on 10-21-21
By: Shirley Jackson, and others
-
Hangsaman
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventeen-year-old Natalie Waite longs to escape home for college. Her father is a domineering and egotistical writer who keeps a tight rein on Natalie and her long-suffering mother. When Natalie finally does get away, however, college life doesn’t bring the happiness she expected. Little by little, Natalie is no longer certain of anything - even where reality ends and her dark imaginings begin. Chilling and suspenseful, Hangsaman is loosely based on the real-life disappearance of a Bennington College sophomore in 1946.
-
-
Julia Whelan’s narration in sweet perfection …
- By Karenique on 12-29-21
By: Shirley Jackson
-
Life Among the Savages
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Lesa Lockford
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her celebrated fiction, Shirley Jackson explored the darkness lurking beneath the surface of small-town America. But in Life Among the Savages, she takes on the lighter side of small-town life. In this witty and warm memoir of her family's life in rural Vermont, she delightfully exposes a domestic side in cheerful contrast to her quietly terrifying fiction. With a novelist's gift for character, an unfailing maternal instinct, and her signature humor, Jackson turns everyday family experiences into brilliant adventures.
-
-
Stories From A Quirky Family
- By Sara on 01-23-16
By: Shirley Jackson
-
The Sundial
- By: Shirley Jackson, Victor LaValle - foreword
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter, Dion Graham
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the Halloran clan gathers at the family home for a funeral, no one is surprised when the somewhat peculiar Aunt Fanny wanders off into the secret garden. But then she returns to report an astonishing vision of an apocalypse from which only the Hallorans and their hangers-on will be spared, and the family finds itself engulfed in growing madness, fear, and violence as they prepare for a terrible new world.
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far too long , not a single likeable character
- By Pam on 05-21-24
By: Shirley Jackson, and others
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Let Me Tell You
- New Stories, Essays, and Other Writings
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter, Gary Bennett, Mark Deakins, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Shirley Jackson is one of the most important American writers of the last hundred years. Since her death in 1965, her place in the landscape of twentieth-century fiction has grown only more exalted. As we approach the centenary of her birth comes this astonishing compilation of fifty-six pieces—more than forty of which have never been published before. Two of Jackson’s children co-edited this volume, culling through the vast archives of their mother’s papers at the Library of Congress, selecting only the very best for inclusion.
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Surprise!
- By Donea Clancy on 02-02-23
By: Shirley Jackson
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Shirley Jackson
- A Rather Haunted Life
- By: Ruth Franklin
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 19 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Known to millions mainly as the author of the "The Lottery", Shirley Jackson has been curiously absent from the mainstream American literary canon. A genius of literary suspense and psychological horror, Jackson plumbed the cultural anxiety of postwar America more deeply than anyone. Ruth Franklin reveals the tumultuous life and inner darkness of the author of The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
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An incredible writer; a courageous woman
- By Lesley on 10-08-16
By: Ruth Franklin
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The Lottery, and Other Stories
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Gabrielle de Cuir, Kathe Mazur, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
"The Lottery," one of the most terrifying stories of the twentieth century, created a sensation when it was first published in the New Yorker. "Powerful and haunting," and "nights of unrest" were typical reader responses. This collection, the only one to appear during Jackson's lifetime, unites "The Lottery" with 24 equally unusual stories. Together they demonstrate her remarkable range - from the hilarious to the truly horrible - and power as a storyteller.
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Title List:
- By CK on 10-28-19
By: Shirley Jackson
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The Witchcraft of Salem Village
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 3 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Stories of magic, superstition, and witchcraft were strictly forbidden in the little town of Salem Village. But a group of young girls ignored those rules, spellbound by the tales told by a woman named Tituba. When questioned about their activities, the terrified girls set off a whirlwind of controversy as they accused townsperson after townsperson of being witches.
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A true historical horror
- By Felicia J on 10-14-16
By: Shirley Jackson
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The Lottery and Seven Other Stories
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Carol Jordan Stewart
- Length: 3 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
It's just townspeople picking numbers for the annual lottery...why, then, is there an ominous feeling to "The Lottery"? Find out just what this lottery is for, and listen to seven other unique stories. The collection reveals Jackson's remarkable range, from hilarious to horrifying, dealing with modern issues of alienation, empowerment, racism, and economic class.
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Literary history, mishandled.
- By Wild Wise Woman on 04-06-12
By: Shirley Jackson
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The Haunting of Hill House
- By: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Four seekers have come to the ugly, abandoned old mansion: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of the psychic phenomenon called haunting; Theodora, his lovely and lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a lonely, homeless girl well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the adventurous future heir of Hill House.
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Well written horror tale
- By C K White on 02-11-14
By: Shirley Jackson
What listeners say about The Road Through the Wall
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- MishiB
- 03-27-24
Ugh
It would be hard to overstate how much I hated this book. I like Shirley Jackson, and appreciate how she builds tension by creating a setting and cast of characters that are just a little bit off. This is good book, but not an enjoyable one, if that makes sense. The characters are awful people. I think I will stick to her short stories from now on.
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