Fans of Shirley Jackson will finally get the chance to read a previously unpublished story by the legendary author, The Guardian reports.
Jackson’s “Adventure on a Bad Night” has been printed in the latest issue of the Strand Magazine. The story is about a woman buying cigarettes at a convenience store who comes to the defense of a pregnant immigrant who’s being mistreated by a store clerk.
The Associated Press reports that Jackson likely wrote the story during or after World War II. The story was discovered by Jackson’s son Laurence Hyman in a carton at the Library of Congress.
“It obviously takes place in New York during the war years because there is reference—though crossed out by Shirley—to ration books,” Hyman said. “The story is interesting; it drips with tension from the first sentence onward, and ends with a beginning.”
The story exemplifies Jackson’s ability “to say so much with so little,” according to Andrew Gulli, managing editor of the Strand.
“Also it shows her knack for showing how those marginalized by society struggle to survive,” Gulli said.
Hyman said that fans of Jackson have some more treats in store, with at least 10 film or television adaptations of her work being planned. And there may be more stories, too.
“There is still material we haven’t gotten to,” he said.
A volume of Jackson’s previously unpublished and uncollected stories, essays, and other writings, Let Me Tell You, was released in 2015.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
