description The Sundial Overview
The Sundial is a 1958 novel by American writer Shirley Jackson, published one year before The Haunting of Hill House. It centers on the wealthy Halloran household, whose members become convinced that an approaching apocalypse will destroy everyone except those sheltered on their estate. Combining Gothic domestic settings, family hostility, social satire, and dark comedy, the novel is intended for readers interested in psychological horror and comic treatments of apocalyptic belief.
help The Sundial FAQ
Who wrote The Sundial and when was it published?
The Sundial was written by American author Shirley Jackson and published in 1958, one year before her better-known novel The Haunting of Hill House. It is one of her lesser-known but critically appreciated works of gothic fiction.
What is The Sundial about?
The Sundial centers on the wealthy Halloran family, whose members become convinced that an approaching apocalypse will destroy everyone except those sheltered on their estate. The novel blends domestic tension with supernatural dread in Jackson's characteristic style.
How does The Sundial fit within Shirley Jackson's body of work?
The Sundial is more overtly apocalyptic than Jackson's realistic domestic fiction such as Life Among the Savages, but less famous than The Haunting of Hill House. It shares her sharp social satire and ability to generate unease from the psychology of a confined group of characters.
Is The Sundial a horror novel?
The Sundial is better described as a gothic or uncanny novel rather than pure horror, though it contains elements of dread and the supernatural. Its focus is on the psychological dynamics of a privileged family confronting possible annihilation, with Jackson's signature atmospheric tension.
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