The Sundial (Shirley Jackson)

I love knowing what novel an author simply loved writing or is most proud of. In Ruth Franklin's fantastic biography of Shirley Jackson, Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, Franklin mentions that Shirley had noted multiple times The Sundial was her favorite.

"Nothing I have ever written has given me so much pleasure", Jackson is quoted from a lecture on the novel (page 388, A Rather Haunted Life).

The story is set in the Halloran mansion after the funeral of the home's patriarch, Lionel, who has died unexpectedly. Lionel's widow Maryjane suspects her mother-in-law, Orianna, pushed her own son down the stairs to his death, hoping to inherit the estate. With tensions high, oddball Aunt Fanny wanders out into the gardens and returns in great distress, informing the family she'd been visited by her father's ghost. The ghost tells Fanny the world will be ending soon and only those inside the Halloran mansion will survive.

Instead of dismissing Aunt Fanny's delirious claim, the Hallorans and select guests choose to believe it, kick-starting a frenetic, doomsday prep only the eccentric, out-of-touch Hallorans could dream up.

Franklin notes in her biography that, much like the fears and anxieties seen in Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, the characters in these stories are ill-equipped for such scenarios, which only amplifies the satire!

You can FEEL how much fun Jackson had writing this favorite novel of hers! It feels like a revenge tale about the affluent society she struggled to integrate in growing up, yet, it never comes across as smug, cruel, or angry. Just witty and downright hysterical.