Life Among the Savages is a collection of short stories edited into novel form, written by Shirley Jackson.

Originally these stories were published individually in women's magazines such as Good Housekeeping, Woman's Day, Mademoiselle, and others.

Jackson—speaking as the nameless mother who serves as narrator—relates a period of roughly six years in the life of her family, focusing particularly on her attempts to keep peace and domestic efficiency despite her increasing number of children.

After a frantic last-minute search, they come upon the perfect home in the country and prepare to adjust to their new quiet but quirky life as newcomers to a small, insular New England village.

[3] The book relays a series of small comical adventures largely contrasting the children's natural acceptance of the change with their parents' struggles to keep up with them, such as eldest child Laurie's introduction to kindergarten (and his daily reporting of troublemaker classmate Charles' antics); Family's middle child Jannie's insistence that her seven imaginary daughters (who all have the same name) be taken into account on every family outing; the comedy of the family's third child, Sally, whose lengthy delay in being born throws the whole family into chaos; and the night the entire family came down with grippe and the ensuing mix-ups.