The Sundial by Shirley Jackson



The Sundial by Shirley Jackson, first published in the USA in 1958 by Farrar, Straus and Cudady. Paperback Penguin edition of 2014 reviewed.

In an odd sense, this reminded me of Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. In The Sundial, Mrs Halloran, a woman prone to internalising events, prepares for a party in her house, but that may be where the comparison ends. Mrs Halloran is expecting the world as we know it to end, with only the inhabitants of her house being saved. Her sister-in-law, Aunt Fanny, has been given a prophetic message of doom by Fanny's dead father, and the family, friends and retainers must prepare for the apocalypse.
Mrs Halloran inherited the house on the death of her son, as her husband is paralysed and confined to a wheelchair and also suffers from dementia. Her son died after falling down the stairs in the house, giving rise to rumours of foul play among her relatives, not least because Orianna Halloran is a tyrant, presiding over the lives of her sick husband, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, household staff and friends. The only character unafraid of crossing her is her granddaughter, Fancy, a strange and precocious child, who dreams of pushing her grandmother down the stairs.
Oddly, everyone believes Aunt Fanny, or at least they go along with it, afraid of the consequences of not believing, should the prophecy be true. The story follows the often macabre preparations for the 'new world' they alone will inherit. As they will need to 'go forth and multiply' Mrs Halloran manipulates the younger men and women so that they cannot leave.
The sundial of the title is an off-centre structure in the garden. It bears a cryptic message - What is this World? Although it doesn't feature a great deal, its unsettling presence is felt. The house has a clawing claustrophobic feel and Jackson is an expert at cranking up the tension (and horror) until the awaited day arrives.


Gothic Rating:

isolated setting:                                    🕱

brooding atmosphere:                          🕱

mental illness:                                      🕱

religious reference:                              🕱

supernatural element:                          🕱

murder:                                                🕱

family secret:                                       ðŸ•±

genius/madness:

doomed love:                                      🕱


The Sundial by Shirley Jackson has a Gothic rating of:    🕱🕱🕱🕱🕱🕱🕱🕱


 

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