[2][3] While writing The Bird's Nest, Jackson suffered from insomnia, backaches, and paranoia, symptoms similar to those the main character of the novel is afflicted with.

Chapter one follows Elizabeth, a shy young woman who lives with her Aunt Morgen and works as a secretary at a museum.

Aunt Morgen takes her to a doctor when Elizabeth makes vulgar comments at a dinner party without being aware of doing so.

During his second attempt, he encounters two of Elizabeth's alter personalities: Beth, a calm and friendly girl, and Betsy, who is immature, childlike, and frightens him.

He procures details as to Elizabeth's mother's whereabouts (who died several years before), which he believes to be the root of the problem.

The third chapter focuses on Betsy, who takes a bus to New York City, where she believes she will find her mother.

Once she has returned to reality and exited the bus, she gets a hotel room and goes to a restaurant, befriending a man whom she eats with.

Bess, the alter now at the helm of Elizabeth's personality, is uncooperative and discusses little except her money and her hatred for her aunt, who she believes wants to steal it.

Eventually, Betsy resorts to controlling Bess' hand and writing messages on a piece of paper.

The next morning, fed up with Bess's insolence, Morgen calls Dr. Wright and convinces him to come to the house and straighten out Elizabeth.

[4] Kirkus Book Reviews was more positive, however, commenting that, while the story could be quite unusual, that for "a special audience, an exploratory of precarious and unpredictable variations, this has a certain fascination.

Flavorwire praised the novel, commenting that it "displays Shirley Jackson’s groundbreaking narrative abilities," and calling the novel "a masterwork of psychological fiction, and one that deserves as much attention as Jackson’s more popular writings",[7] while The New York Times praised the book as a "dryly unsettling [...] novel".

[10] The film was a modest success, grossing more than $500,000 at the box office with a $361,000 budget,[11] but Jackson reportedly disliked the movie, particularly its portrayal of Aunt Morgen as a flirtatious floozy rather than the caring and steady woman depicted in the book.