The Bird's Nest (novel)
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First edition
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| Author | Shirley Jackson |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | |
| Set in | unspecified |
| Published | 1954 |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Young |
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Publication date
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1954 |
| Media type | hardcover book |
| Pages | 276 |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Hangsaman 1951 |
| Followed by | The Sundial 1958 |
The Bird's Nest is a 1954 novel by Shirley Jackson. The plot concerns a young woman, Elizabeth Richmond, with multiple personality disorder.
While writing The Bird's Nest, Jackson suffered from insomnia, backaches, and paranoia, symptoms similar to those the main character of the novel is afflicted with. She took a break from writing the novel in the summer of 1953, but the symptoms returned when she continued writing the book that fall.
Each chapter of the novel follows a specific character. Chapter One follows Elizabeth, a shy, rather colorless young woman who lives with her Aunt Morgen and works as a secretary at a local museum. She frequently suffers from headaches, backaches, and insomnia, but no one knows the reason. Elizabeth begins receiving threatening, handwritten letters addressing her as "Dirty Dirty Lizzy." One morning, Morgen accuses Elizabeth of sneaking out of the house at night; Elizabeth insists that she has no memory of doing so. Aunt Morgen continues to be suspicious, eventually deciding to take her to a doctor when Elizabeth makes some initially-unspecified vulgar comments during dinner at a dinner party hosted by the Arrows, friends of Morgen's. The doctor is unable to help Elizabeth, but refers her to Doctor Wright, a psychiatrist whom he believes could be of help.
The next chapter follows Doctor Wright. He first interviews Elizabeth and gains her trust, eventually convincing her to submit to hypnosis so he can better understand her problem. During his second attempt, he encounters two of Elizabeth's alter personalities: Beth, a calm and friendly girl; and Betsy, who is childlike and whom Dr. Wright initially believes to be a demon. He is able to procure some minor details as to Elizabeth's mother's whereabouts (and finds out she dies several years before), which he believes to be the root of the problem. Betsy begins threatening to take over Elizabeth, and manages to one night. Dr. Wright, whom Betsy refuses to answer until he identifies himself as "Dr. Wrong," believes that he's subdued her, and agrees to let her be in control for a day. He then tries to summon Beth to tell her to fight Betsy's impulses, but instead speaks to Betsy pretending to be Beth. He rushes home and types a letter of resignation to Aunt Morgen. Before he has a chance to send it, he gets a call from Morgen informing him that Elizabeth has run away from home.
The third chapter focuses on Betsy, who takes a train to New York City, where she believes she will find her mother. While on the train, Betsy has flashbacks and recalls an event in which she went to the beach with her mother and Robin, her mother's then-boyfriend. While at the beach, she overhears Robin telling her mother that he hates Elizabeth and wishes she'd stayed at home with Morgen; unable to remember how her mother responded, Betsy tells herself that her mother defended her. Once she has returned to reality and exited the train, she gets a hotel room and goes to a restaurant, briefly befriending a man whom she eats with. It is revealed that he is a doctor, and Betsy, convinced that he is Dr. Wright in disguise, flees the restaurant. She then boards a bus, and informs a female passenger that she is searching for her mother. The woman, going by a description Betsy gives of the home, suggests that she look on the East Side. Betsy obeys, but continually runs into people whom she believes to be enemies from her past. Beth and Elizabeth occasionally take control of her, climaxing when Lizzie manages to overpower Betsy and render her unconscious. Elizabeth wakes up in a hospital, with her fourth personality, Bess, in charge for the first time.
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