Born Shirley Hardie Jackson in San Francisco in 1916 to Leslie and Geraldine Jackson , Shirley and her family lived in Burlingame , California , an wealthy middle-class suburb . Shirley spent most of her early life in California . Born Shirley Hardie Jackson in San Francisco , California , to Leslie and Geraldine Jackson , Shirley and her family lived in the community of Burlingame , California , an affluent middle-class suburb that would feature in Shirley 's first novel The Road Through the Wall .