I had never heard of this Shirley Jackson book, but happened to see it in the bookstore. Coming-of-age novels are ordinarily my least favorite sort of novel, but Jackson's powers of observation and expression make this as much an examination of consciousness as a growing-up story. The book opens on Natalie Waite's last summer at home before starting college. Her bohemian father dominates the family and their special relationship makes breaking free complicated for Natalie. A shocking incident on the eve of her departure subtly informs the rest of the nvovel, as she moves into the dorm and desperately tries to establish herself among the on-campus cliques. We spend enough time inside Natalie's mind, exploring the meaning of her "self" in relation to that of others, that we assume we know her as well or better than she knows herself, but a twist in the final section makes the reader question, with Natalie, how we know what we know about others. I won't forget this one for a long time.