An interesting and engaging novel, but far too many characters to be differentiated. ( )

The prologue is a slog and it's hard to keep track of the family names but I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves Shirley or satirical writing on families and neighborhoods. ( )

Shirley Jackson brings her uncanny wit and astute observations to SUBURBIA!

A huge ensemble cast makes this a difficult one to connect with, but it's oh so clever and filled to the brim with absurd reality.

This isn't the best Jackson for readers looking for a strong story or character arcs, but as good as any looking for top-notch irony and a deeper understanding of people. ( )

This isn't a novel about a character. It's a novel about a whole neighborhood, and that's quite a number of characters, and that's quite a bit difficult keeping them all straight. I'm going to have to reread this because it's interesting and I think I'll get more out of it on a second read, but on a first read I give it 3*** because of the confusing number of characters. ( )

This was Shirley Jackson's first book, and it doesn't hold up to the standards she set in her later novels and short stories. But it is an interesting work for a reader who has read other books by her, as it's possible to catch a glimpse of the themes she would explore so brilliantly later.

The story takes place on Pepper Street, a suburban California community of people for whom a house there is the best they can achieve, at least for the time being. School is out for the summer, and the children of various ages play, trouble and torment each other, and clash or make peace with their families. Jackson introduces the reader to each of the families, and none of them, with the possible exception of the shunned Jewish family, is one anyone would want to be part of. There is the mother who opens her daughter's locked desk to read her private poems and other writings, and the mother who continues to refer to her 16-year-old son as her adopted son, and the girl who loves to needle the others, and the younger boy who is avoided by everyone because he is a little strange (or is he a little strange because everyone avoids him?), and many more. Every now and then some of the braver teenagers venture a few blocks away to some of the stores that serve the broader community and even meet people who don't live on Pepper Street.

What this book really portrays is the claustrophobia of conformity and an obsession with class. None of the adults wants to rock the boat; they all want to behave in the "right" way. But some changes inevitably occur, and there are outsiders. Along with the Jewish family, who are basically ignored, there is a rental house, and about two-thirds of the way through the book a very strange family with an almost nonexistent mother and two girls, the older of whom manages the family and takes care of the younger one who is apparently mentally challenged in some undefined way; the family also seems to have an inexplicable source of cash. The younger girl behaves completely freely, which is very transgressive for Pepper Street. Towards the very end of the book, a completely horrifying and shocking event takes place.

The wall is at the end of the street, and towards the end it is being knocked down so the undeveloped land beyond it can be built on. Needless to say, this disturbs the residents of Pepper Street (who might move in?), but I have been thinking about it and the title, since the breaking down of the wall only takes place when the book is almost over. So, obviously, the wall is metaphoric and creative people need to break through it.

Jackson is an excellent writer, so these points aren't as obvious as I've made them sound, but the book is almost as claustrophobic as the the street and this was an interesting but not really an enjoyable read.