Reading Groups

In Short: Shirley Jackson’s "The Summer People” with Lesley Finn

$45

1 Session

In stock

Tuesday, 6:30 pm EDT - 8:00 pm EDT July 14, 2026

The Center for Fiction

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Registration includes a complimentary drink from our Café & Bar.

Known for her chilling psychological novel The Haunting of Hill House, her creepy bildungsroman We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and her iconic short story, “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson was a genius at making the most ordinary situations unsettling and ominous, and at peeling back the layers of respectability that hide society’s harsher truths. Her 1950 short story “The Summer People” is a masterpiece that turns the simple tale of a middle-aged couple renting a summer home in small-town Vermont into a slow-cooking nightmare.

Our group will trace Jackson’s layered narrative skills—how she makes her readers look over their shoulders and invites them to reflect on class and regional tensions, all in one sentence. We will consider why summer as a season is such a perfect fit for horror and suspense, and how Jackson mobilizes this alignment to stir up questions about capitalism, aging, and agency.

Reading List:

“The Summer People” by Shirley Jackson (A copy of the story will be emailed upon registration.)

What to expect from this reading group: This reading group is conversational and participant-driven. Context and prompts will be provided by the instructor to help initiate and facilitate discussion.

What to read in advance: Please read “The Summer People” in its entirety. A copy of the story will be emailed upon registration.

We offer a limited number of need-based scholarships for our Reading Groups and Writing Workshops, covering 50% of tuition. Applicants selected for scholarships will be notified one week prior to the first meeting. To apply for a scholarship, please fill out this form.

Upcoming Programming: Continue your exploration of Shirley Jackson’s work in Melissa Lozada-Oliva’s two-day reading and writing intensive “How She Wrote: Generative Exercises Inspired by Shirley Jackson” on August 1st and 2nd.

Pricing inclusive of sales tax if applicable.

Led by

Lesley Finn

Lesley Finn

Lesley Finn is an artist and writer working at the intersection of archival research, collage, and erasure. Her work, which explores themes of gender and the supernatural while drawing from her background in medieval studies and book arts, has been supported by the Kolaj Institute, the Ely Center of Contemporary Art, the CT Arts Council, and the Eccles Centre at the British Library. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.A. in English from Columbia University, an M.Phil in Medieval and Renaissance Studies from the University of Cambridge, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

About this series

Reading Groups

Whether you’re looking to catch up on great novels or you’re interested in exploring a new writer or literary period, our reading groups offer high-level literary discussion led by experts in the field.

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