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Louisa, Please Come Home
19-year-old Louisa Tether runs away from her family the day before her sister’s wedding.
Three years later, after the searching has died down, she decides to respond to her mother’s annual plea, and return home.
Three years later, after the searching has died down, she decides to respond to her mother’s annual plea, and return home.
10 pages, Unknown Binding
First published May 1, 1960
About the author
Shirley Jackson
340 books11.8k followersShirley Jackson was an influential American author. A popular writer in her time, her work has received increasing attention from literary critics in recent years. She has influenced such writers as Stephen King, Nigel Kneale, and Richard Matheson.
She is best known for her dystopian short story, "The Lottery" (1948), which suggests there is a deeply unsettling underside to bucolic, smalltown America. In her critical biography of Shirley Jackson, Lenemaja Friedman notes that when Shirley Jackson's story "The Lottery" was published in the June 28, 1948, issue of The New Yorker, it received a response that "no New Yorker story had ever received." Hundreds of letters poured in that were characterized by, as Jackson put it, "bewilderment, speculation and old-fashioned abuse."
Jackson's husband, the literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman, wrote in his preface to a posthumous anthology of her work that "she consistently refused to be interviewed, to explain or promote her work in any fashion, or to take public stands and be the pundit of the Sunday supplements. She believed that her books would speak for her clearly enough over the years." Hyman insisted the darker aspects of Jackson's works were not, as some critics claimed, the product of "personal, even neurotic, fantasies", but that Jackson intended, as "a sensitive and faithful anatomy of our times, fitting symbols for our distressing world of the concentration camp and the Bomb", to mirror humanity's Cold War-era fears. Jackson may even have taken pleasure in the subversive impact of her work, as revealed by Hyman's statement that she "was always proud that the Union of South Africa banned The Lottery', and she felt that they at least understood the story".
In 1965, Jackson died of heart failure in her sleep, at her home in North Bennington Vermont, at the age of 48.
She is best known for her dystopian short story, "The Lottery" (1948), which suggests there is a deeply unsettling underside to bucolic, smalltown America. In her critical biography of Shirley Jackson, Lenemaja Friedman notes that when Shirley Jackson's story "The Lottery" was published in the June 28, 1948, issue of The New Yorker, it received a response that "no New Yorker story had ever received." Hundreds of letters poured in that were characterized by, as Jackson put it, "bewilderment, speculation and old-fashioned abuse."
Jackson's husband, the literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman, wrote in his preface to a posthumous anthology of her work that "she consistently refused to be interviewed, to explain or promote her work in any fashion, or to take public stands and be the pundit of the Sunday supplements. She believed that her books would speak for her clearly enough over the years." Hyman insisted the darker aspects of Jackson's works were not, as some critics claimed, the product of "personal, even neurotic, fantasies", but that Jackson intended, as "a sensitive and faithful anatomy of our times, fitting symbols for our distressing world of the concentration camp and the Bomb", to mirror humanity's Cold War-era fears. Jackson may even have taken pleasure in the subversive impact of her work, as revealed by Hyman's statement that she "was always proud that the Union of South Africa banned The Lottery', and she felt that they at least understood the story".
In 1965, Jackson died of heart failure in her sleep, at her home in North Bennington Vermont, at the age of 48.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
March 30, 2025
2.5 stars
short review for busy readers
Louisa has always wanted to run away. At the age of 19, she does. Plans it, does it and establishes a new life a long way away. But 3 years later, she makes a mistake, is recognised and forced to go home....to surprising results. A short story by Shirley Jackson, published in 1960 in the Ladies Home Journal.
in detail
Louisa is a chameleon. She can be whoever she wants to be, slip into a new identity at will, perhaps because she never was recognised for who she really was by her family. They had, and continue to have, an artificial idea of who she is.
And just who is this Louisa so many people are looking for? Does she even know herself?
The question of how much we pigeonhole people, force them into the knowable, pre-fab moulds that are so very convenient without a second thought but have little to do with them, is an interesting one. But one that's too vaguely conveyed to be seen fully in this story.
The reader's own biases about families, being your own person, and the duty of children to come up to conventional expectations gets in the way. It can easily be viewed through the goggles of bias and Louisa seen as a callous bitch, as a girl desperate to escape a repressive household, as a young lady with sass and agency, as an immature brat who doesn't understand the value of parental love....anything.
And that's where this story rather fails for me.
It's not bold enough. Doesn't make an unequivocal case for its meaning. It shrinks away from the actual topic of "know thyself" (and others will know you, too) I think Jackson probably wanted to talk about to hide in vagarity and inconsequential detail.
And the bulk of the story is just that, inconsequential details of how Louisa escaped her hometown and set herself up with a room and a job -- something you could no longer do today with ID, background and credit rating surveillance.
These details are interesting at first, but Louisa's monologue drones on for far too long and becomes tedious. You start drumming your fingers waiting for something to happen. And when it does...still vague and whispy.
Those are the main drawbacks to an otherwise interesting story that had the potential to be even more interesting than it was. An average 2.5 stars.
short review for busy readers
Louisa has always wanted to run away. At the age of 19, she does. Plans it, does it and establishes a new life a long way away. But 3 years later, she makes a mistake, is recognised and forced to go home....to surprising results. A short story by Shirley Jackson, published in 1960 in the Ladies Home Journal.
in detail
Louisa is a chameleon. She can be whoever she wants to be, slip into a new identity at will, perhaps because she never was recognised for who she really was by her family. They had, and continue to have, an artificial idea of who she is.
And just who is this Louisa so many people are looking for? Does she even know herself?
The question of how much we pigeonhole people, force them into the knowable, pre-fab moulds that are so very convenient without a second thought but have little to do with them, is an interesting one. But one that's too vaguely conveyed to be seen fully in this story.
The reader's own biases about families, being your own person, and the duty of children to come up to conventional expectations gets in the way. It can easily be viewed through the goggles of bias and Louisa seen as a callous bitch, as a girl desperate to escape a repressive household, as a young lady with sass and agency, as an immature brat who doesn't understand the value of parental love....anything.
And that's where this story rather fails for me.
It's not bold enough. Doesn't make an unequivocal case for its meaning. It shrinks away from the actual topic of "know thyself" (and others will know you, too) I think Jackson probably wanted to talk about to hide in vagarity and inconsequential detail.
And the bulk of the story is just that, inconsequential details of how Louisa escaped her hometown and set herself up with a room and a job -- something you could no longer do today with ID, background and credit rating surveillance.
These details are interesting at first, but Louisa's monologue drones on for far too long and becomes tedious. You start drumming your fingers waiting for something to happen. And when it does...still vague and whispy.
Those are the main drawbacks to an otherwise interesting story that had the potential to be even more interesting than it was. An average 2.5 stars.
November 22, 2017
"It's funny how no one pays any attention to you at all. There were hundreds of people who saw me that day, and yet no one really saw me."
This story will make you think a lot. On the surface it seems as if Louisa had no reasons to run away from her family and one can even be quick to judge her for all the sufferings she caused to them. It wasn't right what she did and I'm not trying to justify her. However she probably felt invisible all her life and she wasn't quite aware of the real pain that her family would feel. She didn't fit in therefore she wanted to create a new persona in a new place, away from all the people she knew. Creating a new home far away from home. And she achieves and pretends that her old life doesn't matter to her anymore yet she is only deceiving herself. Her family never stop searching for their beloved daughter. When she does get back they don't recognize her. While she is in her own house she realizes that she longs to stay. Unfortunately they want their old daughter back and she is now a new person. Three years are a long time and she has changed. Both parties are desperate for a family union but it's impossible to happen. Louisa left once, that was her mistake that brought drastic consequences upon her and on the other hand her family will forever wait for her, grieve for her yet not find the old familiar person in this new one. Hence no happy ending. It deeply saddened me.
This story will make you think a lot. On the surface it seems as if Louisa had no reasons to run away from her family and one can even be quick to judge her for all the sufferings she caused to them. It wasn't right what she did and I'm not trying to justify her. However she probably felt invisible all her life and she wasn't quite aware of the real pain that her family would feel. She didn't fit in therefore she wanted to create a new persona in a new place, away from all the people she knew. Creating a new home far away from home. And she achieves and pretends that her old life doesn't matter to her anymore yet she is only deceiving herself. Her family never stop searching for their beloved daughter. When she does get back they don't recognize her. While she is in her own house she realizes that she longs to stay. Unfortunately they want their old daughter back and she is now a new person. Three years are a long time and she has changed. Both parties are desperate for a family union but it's impossible to happen. Louisa left once, that was her mistake that brought drastic consequences upon her and on the other hand her family will forever wait for her, grieve for her yet not find the old familiar person in this new one. Hence no happy ending. It deeply saddened me.
October 18, 2018
Another great story by Ms. Jackson. I don't think I'll ever quit liking these stories about escaping from your current reality, because I've often had a desire to do just that. And not having to answer to anyone about what you are doing. There is at least an appearance of freedom in that, although it can be misleading. This story reminded me of The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaal by Edgar Allan Poe and The Thief of Always by Clive Barker because they both also deal with the idea of escape. The Thief of Always even has a similar ending where the child returns home to their parents but everything is different because of the passage of time.
Louisa, Please Come Home is not as scary as some of Jackson's other works, but it's still just as good. The only part that gave me chills was when Louisa returned home, and her parents didn't recognize her. They didn't believe she was who she said she was, and they turned her away. She had to begrudgingly return to the life she once yearned to escape to. I suppose the moral of the story is that the grass is not always greener on the other side.
Louisa, Please Come Home is not as scary as some of Jackson's other works, but it's still just as good. The only part that gave me chills was when Louisa returned home, and her parents didn't recognize her. They didn't believe she was who she said she was, and they turned her away. She had to begrudgingly return to the life she once yearned to escape to. I suppose the moral of the story is that the grass is not always greener on the other side.
July 3, 2024
FAK en mai 1960 tu pouvais acheter un magazine avec le inside scoop sur la nouvelle cuisine de James Stewart ET une histoire géniale de Shirley??
May 28, 2020
It's a masterpiece, please read it, y'all. 🥺🥺
August 19, 2025
I'm convinced I've never read a story like this.
How pretty it looks, how sincerely it delivers, and how decently it behaves, like a well-groomed woman of a standard breeding! However, what we miss to notice, initially, is the wolf of gloom dressed as the sheep of joy.
But oh, how sad it is when your family forgets you when you wanted yourself to be forgotten in the first place. Or is it? It's sad, sometimes, that you actually get what you desire, and that that's the curse you've to live.
How pretty it looks, how sincerely it delivers, and how decently it behaves, like a well-groomed woman of a standard breeding! However, what we miss to notice, initially, is the wolf of gloom dressed as the sheep of joy.
But oh, how sad it is when your family forgets you when you wanted yourself to be forgotten in the first place. Or is it? It's sad, sometimes, that you actually get what you desire, and that that's the curse you've to live.
January 19, 2025
داستان های کمی وجود دارن که بعد از خوندنشون سوالی جدید برای خواننده ایجاد کنن و مفهوم جدیدی که شخص تا به حال هیچوقت بهش فکر نکرده بود رو براش مطرح کنن. این داستان کوتاه و ساده برام این کارو کرد و این سوالات رو برام مطرح کرد:
زندگی بعد از زدودن تمام نقش های انتسابی و اکتسابی (اعم از اجتماعی، بیولوژیکی و ...) چگونه می شود؟ آیا بدون وجود نقش ها عزیز ترین آدم های زندگیمان همان رفتار قبلی را با ما دارند؟
آیا آدم هایی که فکر میکنیم نزدیک ترین آدمها در زندگیمان هستند واقعا ما رو میشناسند؟ و یا در چهارچوب یک نقش ما را محدود میکنند؟
آیا دوست داشتنشان به خاطر آن نقش است یا اگر به خود واقعی ما پی ببرند باز هم ما را دوست خواهند داشت؟
آیا دوست داشتن، فریب نشناختن یکدیگر است؟
آیا یک مادر بدون محدود کردن فرزند خود به نقش فرزندی او را دوست خواهد داشت؟
زندگی بعد از زدودن تمام نقش های انتسابی و اکتسابی (اعم از اجتماعی، بیولوژیکی و ...) چگونه می شود؟ آیا بدون وجود نقش ها عزیز ترین آدم های زندگیمان همان رفتار قبلی را با ما دارند؟
آیا آدم هایی که فکر میکنیم نزدیک ترین آدمها در زندگیمان هستند واقعا ما رو میشناسند؟ و یا در چهارچوب یک نقش ما را محدود میکنند؟
آیا دوست داشتنشان به خاطر آن نقش است یا اگر به خود واقعی ما پی ببرند باز هم ما را دوست خواهند داشت؟
آیا دوست داشتن، فریب نشناختن یکدیگر است؟
آیا یک مادر بدون محدود کردن فرزند خود به نقش فرزندی او را دوست خواهد داشت؟
June 1, 2025
This is a neat fable about the consequences of selfishness and the cascading effects it has on the people around you. Because it’s a short story, there is little information on why she left. But this kind of desire to flee and leaving everything behind is universal enough for me to understand. It’s competently written no doubt, but leaves little to the imagination.
February 8, 2022
Pretty sweet story, and the ending was pretty heartbreaking
December 2, 2025
so heartbreaking
March 13, 2026
My life fr
February 10, 2016
"Louisa, please come home" turned out to be a sad, haunting tale of a teenager 's relentless search for recognition. The author starts the tale with a snippet of a radio broadcast of a mother's pleading for her missing child to come home as reflected upon by the runaway child. We also learn that Louisa, the runaway has left home intentionally after feeling like an invisible and hated member of her family. She disappeared, as carefully planned, a day before her sister's wedding.
Louisa assumes a new identity in a nearby town and again becomes a non entity in this attempt to form a new life herself. Even, the lady with whom she resides fail to recognize her as the runaway girl with a newspaper picture of Louisa in hand and with Louisa attempts to point to the blatant sameness of the image in the newspaper and herself.
After being away from her family for 3 years Louisa spots her neighbour Paul in a crowd and in her desperate attempt to be seen, calls out to him willfully blowing her cover in hopes of uniting with her family.
Long story short, Paul and Louise make the trip to see her family. She enters the home with no idea that her family would completely fail to recognize her but that is exactly what greets her. We know we should expect this but the reader (at least this reader) and Louisa are both rattled that a parent can completely fail to identify their own child after only 3 years on the lam. After all, what sounded like an immature teenager's cry for attention is magnified when we truly learn her family indeed sees her with only closed eyes. Louise is left to accept her fate as an invisible (for now at least). And yes, it is still remarkably that Louise's family accepted individuals brought by Paul as Louise. Each one of those accepted as Louise is a slap in the face and just cements the fact that they do not know their own daughter. Paul is an opportunist we know, but what is their excuse?
---Review provided by Mona ;-)
Louisa assumes a new identity in a nearby town and again becomes a non entity in this attempt to form a new life herself. Even, the lady with whom she resides fail to recognize her as the runaway girl with a newspaper picture of Louisa in hand and with Louisa attempts to point to the blatant sameness of the image in the newspaper and herself.
After being away from her family for 3 years Louisa spots her neighbour Paul in a crowd and in her desperate attempt to be seen, calls out to him willfully blowing her cover in hopes of uniting with her family.
Long story short, Paul and Louise make the trip to see her family. She enters the home with no idea that her family would completely fail to recognize her but that is exactly what greets her. We know we should expect this but the reader (at least this reader) and Louisa are both rattled that a parent can completely fail to identify their own child after only 3 years on the lam. After all, what sounded like an immature teenager's cry for attention is magnified when we truly learn her family indeed sees her with only closed eyes. Louise is left to accept her fate as an invisible (for now at least). And yes, it is still remarkably that Louise's family accepted individuals brought by Paul as Louise. Each one of those accepted as Louise is a slap in the face and just cements the fact that they do not know their own daughter. Paul is an opportunist we know, but what is their excuse?
---Review provided by Mona ;-)
June 21, 2020
Shirley Jackson is a writer that completely encapsulates yearning with such a graceful and vivid ability that the reader themselves feel it, and the characters descent into these strong feelings is entirely justified.
This story was so very entertaining, the theme of wanting what you cannot have is so wonderfully portrayed, and even as the end presents such a devastating reality, it is what seems necessary under the circumstances.
The retrospective approach to the narrative is so wonderful, and it made the story so gripping that even with descriptions of mundane actions, they all seem to contribute to some greater scheme.
I would highly recommend this short story as a quick and entertaining read.
This story was so very entertaining, the theme of wanting what you cannot have is so wonderfully portrayed, and even as the end presents such a devastating reality, it is what seems necessary under the circumstances.
The retrospective approach to the narrative is so wonderful, and it made the story so gripping that even with descriptions of mundane actions, they all seem to contribute to some greater scheme.
I would highly recommend this short story as a quick and entertaining read.
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October 2, 2015the book was good and interesting . i wanted to keep reading
November 7, 2024
Ugh. I wish she had gone into a completely different direction at the end… This one was nice, I guess.
June 19, 2024
Just overall sad, not even in a devastating way, just sad.
I like to think of it as a tribute to the Garden Party in a way.
Louisa’s parents didn’t recognize her; not necessarily because she’s grown older—fat lot of difference three years can make—but because she’s dropped too far down the social ladder. She’s poor—she gets by, has a good job (a good position too, more than most can hope for at such a young age), a nice place to live and genuinely likes her life. She isn’t ‘poor’ to the average person, but to her parents, she is clearly lacking—she is no longer the posh girl with the expensive light coat and that bothers them because those aspects of her made her part of the—wealthy—family.
The circumstances of her running away are quite unclear still, but she was clearly unhappy (or at least looking for a thrill). Whereas in Chandler, she’s genuinely happy because she’s made a life of her own without anyone’s help but her own. But yeah the fact that they don’t recognize her (and barely anyone else does without her pointing it out) shows that she has grown into a completely different person than what they would expect of the youngest daughter of wealthy family.
I like to think of it as a tribute to the Garden Party in a way.
Louisa’s parents didn’t recognize her; not necessarily because she’s grown older—fat lot of difference three years can make—but because she’s dropped too far down the social ladder. She’s poor—she gets by, has a good job (a good position too, more than most can hope for at such a young age), a nice place to live and genuinely likes her life. She isn’t ‘poor’ to the average person, but to her parents, she is clearly lacking—she is no longer the posh girl with the expensive light coat and that bothers them because those aspects of her made her part of the—wealthy—family.
The circumstances of her running away are quite unclear still, but she was clearly unhappy (or at least looking for a thrill). Whereas in Chandler, she’s genuinely happy because she’s made a life of her own without anyone’s help but her own. But yeah the fact that they don’t recognize her (and barely anyone else does without her pointing it out) shows that she has grown into a completely different person than what they would expect of the youngest daughter of wealthy family.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 15, 2024
I think of myself as a Shirley Jackson fan and so far I have enjoyed every thing I have read of hers. This one is another that makes me think about it long after finishing it. I expect horror or spookiness to be a featured part of her books but it’s often just a little bit of horror that shines through. This horror seems plausible and as if it will absolutely happen. That makes it even worse.
Louisa walks away from her family, and goes to a new town and begins her life again but on her own terms. Every year, on the anniversary of her death, her family is on tv begging for her safe return.
Then after a number of years, an old boyfriend spots her and delivers her to her parents in hopes of collecting an award they offered.
Will this be a happy ever after type of story? IF you have ever read any books by this author, chances are great that this will not be the case.
Louisa walks away from her family, and goes to a new town and begins her life again but on her own terms. Every year, on the anniversary of her death, her family is on tv begging for her safe return.
Then after a number of years, an old boyfriend spots her and delivers her to her parents in hopes of collecting an award they offered.
Will this be a happy ever after type of story? IF you have ever read any books by this author, chances are great that this will not be the case.
July 17, 2020
4.5 Shirley Jackson's short stories are always worth checking out. This story progresses at a slow burn. We know something is coming to provide an interesting ending, but what will it be? What is the price for freedom? A master story teller. First published in Ladies Home Journal, 1960. This is part of the reason Jackson didn't get as much recognition as some other authors as she was dismissed as a 'women's writer' because of the outlets that purchased her stories.
September 30, 2023
Very bizarre...was she actually the daughter, and did such a good job of becoming someone else that even her parents didn't recognise her, or was she actually an imposter who absorbed all information about Louisa from the newspapers and magazines she collected that she because deluded into thinking that she actually was Louisa?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 29, 2025
An excellent story. Like many who've come through the American school system, my only experience with Shirley Jackson was "The Lottery," but I must read more of her work because this was so perfectly engaging, funny, and tragic. The shackles of comfort, the power of self-creation, the tragedy of a wish granted, the fact that you can never go home again.
March 5, 2021
I like how Shirley Jackson only needs a few handfuls of pages to write a story as chilling as this. The story seems to invite the reader to fill in the blanks (as to motivations and the nature of relationships), but I like the simplicity of it.
November 26, 2022
Creepy, Louisa had a good idea to get away from her nuclear family. She rejects them but then matures. That is why the ending is so heartbreaking. She is more mature and actualized than where she came from.
Thanks to Lisa Jelenic for the title.
Thanks to Lisa Jelenic for the title.
October 9, 2025
definitely the best short story in the penguin archive Shirley Jackson collection and chilling in a way you wouldn’t expect
read alongside murder on miss lederer’s birthday, which was short, silly and delightful
read alongside murder on miss lederer’s birthday, which was short, silly and delightful
May 11, 2021
I loved the first half. The rest was good. I hope to read more by this lady.
October 20, 2021
Realizing the idea of you has taken over your place in reality is so witty and horrifying all at once. I am in love with Shirley Jackson!!!
February 15, 2022
shirley jackson can do no wrong. this story like all her others is amazing
January 14, 2023
Great ending. Great character.
February 23, 2024
I was a bit apprehensive while reading this at first, but I came around to it. Super thought provoking. Jackson’s characters are amazing, and there is so much depth to Louisa’s internal conflict.
March 18, 2024
louisa is so real for just running away and leaving everything behind
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews