Reading Hangsaman, it's easy to see why Shirley Jackson is so widely celebrated as a prose writer. She has an acerbic wit, but her voice is always kept subordinate to the characterisation of the protagonist. She writes beautiful descriptions, but only so far as required by the story. It is this combination of natural talent and control that imo sets Jackson apart as a writer.

Hangsaman is, ultimately, a coming of age story centered on the protagonist, Natalie's journey from home, to college, to self-discovery. Jackson's signature motifs of paranoia, repressed saphic desire, and all-encompassing patriarchical oppression are very much in effect.

Natalie is far from a 'perfect' victim, however: she is no Tess. She is deluded, egotistical and misanthropic; and the bracing honesty of her characterisation prevents the text from ever descending into polemic. Hangsaman is cold cynical realism all the way down.

It's dark, it's scathing, it's funny. I recommend.

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