We Have Always Lived in the Castle

May 02, 2008 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Jan 04, 2013 Maciek rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, read-in-2013, reviewed, classic-horror

My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all, I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in our family is dead.

This is the brillia...more My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all, I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in our family is dead.

This is the brilliant opening of We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson's last novel - published in 1962, three years before her death. It is narrated in the first person by Mary Katherine "Merricat" Blackwood, who in a series of flashbacks tells the story of herself, her older sister Constance, their uncle Julian, and the Blackwood family. Together with Merricat's cat Jordan, the three live in the secluded Blackwood mansion. Merricat is the only who ever ventures to the outside world, grudgingly, to buy groceries and borrow books from the local library - uncle Julian is an invalid and never leaves the mansion, and Constance suffers from agoraphobia (as did Jackson herself at the time of writing the novel) and does not leave the estate, never going past her garden. As the novel progresses it becomes obvious that Constance's fear of the town and the outsiders is not completely unreasonable - the townspeople are very wary of the Blackwoods; rumors about the sisters circulate, with Constance being accused of poisoning her whole family, and getting away with murder. The sisters and their uncle are effectively ostracized, and as Merricat journeys to purchase her groceries she is taunted by the local children, who sing a malicious nursery rhyme:

Merricat, said Connie, would you like a cup of tea?
Oh no, said Merricat, you’ll poison me.
Merricat, said Connie, would you like to go to sleep?
Down in the boneyard ten feet deep!

In his introduction Jonathan Lethem states that the town of the novel can be recognizes as a fictionalized version of the small town of North Bennington in Vermont - where Jackson and her husband encountered both anti-semitismand anti-intellectualism, and where she died at the age of 48. Life in Vermont, her own neuroses and psychosomatic ilnesses, provided her with more than enough inspiration to write a novel which is almost a textbook example of the American Gothic - it resembles the classic novels such as The House of the Seven Gables by utilizing the hallmarks of the genre: a grand American estate slowly rotting away, a family ruined and disgraced by an Awful Event. The theme of entrapment of the hero in a Gothic House is present - Constance is trapped in the Blackwood house like Emily in the castle of Udolpho in The Mysteries of Udolpho, and Jonathan Harker in the castle of the Count in Dracula. in Obviously there's a Villain figure, the male intruder who disturbs the peaceful life of the Blackwood women and their uncle - played here by the greedy cousin Charles, who has an eye out for the Blackwood's money (amount of which is rumored to be huge - how else would three people could keep on living for years without bothering to work?). As in most gothic novels, there's a suggestion of the supernatural. However unlike most gothics, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is elegantly brief, paying attention to not tire its readers and keep their attention, and does so with its succesful use of the first person. Merricat Blackwood is a delightful narrator although she does not seem to think of herself as of a witch, she nonetheless practices a form of witchcraft by burying various objects all around the Blackwood land, believing in their power of protection. She is home to a collection of neuroses and phobias: she dislikes washing herself and instead of cleaning the house she prefers to "neaten" it. She is completely unaware of her own filthiness and sees the townspeople as dirty, and the town as an ugly place. She thinks that her left eye works better than the right one, and wants to live on the moon; she wishes her thoughts could turn into reality and keeps wishing strongly for things to happen to people. Because of Merricat's character and the fact that she is both the main protagonist and the narrator, the novel contains a fair amount of black humor and dramatic irony - most of which will only be understandable in retrospection, as the reader will posess the full knowledge of the story - or at least as full as Merricat will allow it to be.

Although Shirley Jackson is mostly associated with being a pioneer of horror fiction and many contemporary authors list her as an important influence, this novel is more of a dark comedy about two neurotic women and their incapacitated uncle, chronicling their descent into the grotesque until it reaches its absurd conclusion. It is elegantly written and a great field for interpretation and discussion, yet I felt that it lacked the impact it should have had - unlike her short story, The Lottery whose conclusion was so effective that it shocked the whole nation (and the world - it was banned in South Africa), and her most famous novel The Haunting of Hill House which is considered to be one of the most important horror novels of the 20th century and was adapted as a brilliant film in 1963. We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a quiet and underplayed novel, darkly amusing, but feels like a minor work, one which is usually spoken about in reference when discussing the author's main works. Still, at such lenght it's a sin to not read it as it's definitely worth being familiar with, and it's quirky characters and black humor are worth the price of admission alone. This classic won't steal more than two afternoons from your time, and can provide a fertile ground for discussion along with plain, old-fashioned enjoyment from reading. The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle are the only two of Shirley Jackson's novels to remain in print, along with her short stories - reading her work is essential for anyone interested in post-war American fiction. A solitary woman in a field dominated by men, Shirley Jackson left her mark, scared and inspired those whom we read today. We must not let her work be forgotten.(less)

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Aug 08, 2007 sydney rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is my favorite book of all time, hands down, case closed.

Shirley Jackson wrote the short story "The Lottery," which is about a creepy small town. This follows in that tradition. It's about the Blackwells-- Mary Katherine, who is 18 but reads 12 to me, Constance, who is an adult but reads 18, and frail old Uncle Julian. And Jonas the cat. Six years before the book opens, the rest of the Blackwells were murdered at the dinner table. Now Mary Katherine (aka Merricat), Constance, and Uncle Jul...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Jill rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Jill by: Kinga

Shelves: kinga-forced-me

2.5 stars

Usually I'm not at a loss for words in a review....

My friend Kinga decided it would be great fun if we recommended a favourite book to each other.

Despite the fact we don't have a lot of books in common I love reading Kinga's reviews regardless of the genre. She has quite the way with words and I think she's the coolest person, which is why I forgive her so easily for inflicting this weird little number on me.

And I warn you beforehand that I will be using the word weird and synonyms o...more

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Jan 15, 2013 BarkLessWagMore rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, horror

I listened to this classic Shirley Jackson story in its unabridged audiobook format and the narrator did a terrific job bringing the story of Merricat and the remaining members of her family to life, her voice drips with atmosphere of the gothic drama. If you’re an audiobook fan and appreciate a dread-filled slightly creepy family drama I highly recommend checking this one out. I downloaded my copy from local library via Overdrive.

I don’t want to give too much away because this is one of those c...more I listened to this classic Shirley Jackson story in its unabridged audiobook format and the narrator did a terrific job bringing the story of Merricat and the remaining members of her family to life, her voice drips with atmosphere of the gothic drama. If you’re an audiobook fan and appreciate a dread-filled slightly creepy family drama I highly recommend checking this one out. I downloaded my copy from local library via Overdrive.

I don’t want to give too much away because this is one of those character driven, slow burning, suspenseful stories that slowly reveals itself and is one you should really experience for yourself without knowing too much about its plot. When the story opens a young lady named Mary Katherine (Merricat) Blackwood is making her way through the village and you instantly know things are off-kilter. She is buying necessities for a sister who will not leave the house and is subjected to taunts, insults and/or fear from nearly all she encounters.

She lives a lonely existence with her agoraphobic sister Constance and their ailing Uncle Julian. Merricat spends her time burying things, following her own strict rules to keep safe and helping Constance keep their home spotless. The rest of their family is dead. I’m not telling you how or why it happened (actually I’m still unclear about the why but I think I have it figured out). They are perfectly content and set in their routines despite their seclusion but it all gets screwed up when a greedy male cousin arrives and stirs up no end of trouble for the little family teetering on the edge of sanity.

As little details are revealed through Merricat I really felt for her and understood her bouts of angry thoughts aimed at her neighbors, despite the fact that she seems to be quite happy to be the town outcast. She loves her kitty and her sister and they are all she seems to need in her world. The two however are keepers of dark secrets but I still felt for them to the very end.

Filled with darkness and dread this isn’t a horror novel but the writing haunted me. It was written way back in 1962 but feels timeless and I highly recommend it.
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Mar 24, 2013 Alondra rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: favorites

I will keep this short and sweet;

Something very wrong here. Something twisted and broken. Was the whole family broken or just Merricat?? Something fragile. Something dark. Something very 'off.' I was not sure where the author was taking me, but I couldn't wait to get there.

Tortured souls, not knowing how to live. Living inside a make-believe world of their own creation. Was Merricat schizophrenic? At times, I think she was. Sociopathic; oohh yes, buddy. Most certainly, even in one so young. (vi ...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Kinga rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: special-place-in-my-heart

What a cute little book!! Just listen to this:

"My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all, I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone...more What a cute little book!! Just listen to this:

"My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all, I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in our family is dead."

There is a special place in my heart for all the wacky, unreliable narrators that might or might not have murderous tendencies. I read their words and I get them. Their logic makes sense to me. You are probably wondering: "But Kinga, doesn't it worry you? Doesn't it worry you that you find it so easy to relate to all the nutcases of the world?". And I will say: "Yes, it worries me a little bit, maybe. But hey, as Seal sings 'we're never gonna survive unless we get a little crazayy-y-y'. (Btw. did you hear the Seal and Heidi are no more? This is the saddest news ever. They were my favourite celebrity couple ever!)

Anyway, the book. Merricat and Constance are sisters and they live in a big house all alone, not counting their handicapped uncle. They have a garden where they grow things and Constance cooks all year long which makes Merricat observe:

"We eat the year away. We eat the spring and the summer and the fall. We wait for something to grow and then we eat it."

And it all sounds like total bliss to me. I want to live in a big house like that with my sister, and have my little harmless rituals, and new books from library every week.

Hey, don't you think Merricat should totally marry Frank from the Wasp Factory? They are meant for each other! Of course, they both hate strangers to they might initially try to kill each other, but every relationship has its obstacles to overcome. I believe eventually they will realise they are soulmates and get married and have lots and lots of completely twisted children. That might be just a tad difficult given the fact that Frank does not have a penis, but I believe that love conquers all!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fc67y...(less)

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Oct 26, 2012 Milica Chotra rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you're looking for a book that will make you feel agoraphobic, this is the one for you.

Told from the perspective of a girl whose strangeness and narratorial unreliability are evident from the start, this novel is a story about otherness and consequent isolation and anxiety. Focusing on Marricat and her highly sensitive, damaged sister, it tells us about the horror inflicted on them by the community that estranged them - it is the small-minded villagers and their self-righteousness that we fea...more

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Mar 07, 2012 Colleen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: group-read, horror-esque

My first thoughts on completing this story was "WTF did I just read?". I really didn't know what to think about it or how to rate it. I mean, I know I say that I don't know how to rate something often enough to become tedious - but I think this was definitely one of my harder, and I'm still going back and forth on how I should handle it.

Thing is, I didn't dislike it, per se, but I'm not sure I really liked it, either...

I will say that, on the downside, I agree with Felina is that it was kind of...more My first thoughts on completing this story was "WTF did I just read?". I really didn't know what to think about it or how to rate it. I mean, I know I say that I don't know how to rate something often enough to become tedious - but I think this was definitely one of my harder, and I'm still going back and forth on how I should handle it.

Thing is, I didn't dislike it, per se, but I'm not sure I really liked it, either...

I will say that, on the downside, I agree with Felina is that it was kind of sloggy for such a short story and rather on the repetitive side. Since it's sort of a stream-of-consciousness book it makes a kind of sense, because people do often think in circles and repeat themselves, but, as a book, it wore thin - especially when I started wondering if maybe my e-copy was faulty 'cause "did I just read this same exact thing a few pages ago?".

Also on the downside I didn't really think the characters were very realistic. Granted this might because I was expecting some level of reality instead of the 'psychological study' that it apparently is taken to be by many people, but from the townspeople up to Mary Katherine it just didn't ring true.

And lastly for the downside, at least for the time being, is all the dangling threads and questions left unanswered. In particular I would like to know why (view spoiler)

On the upside, I did emotionally feel for the characters, at least a bit, so I must've connected with them on some level, and I do think that 'wtf' might be the intended side effect of the story.

As to the psychological study, which I got from reading some other reviews, I sort of wish I had that mind set going into the story. I may have read it differently and paid closer attention to the various symptoms presented throughout the story, though they do stand out even without looking for them - agoraphobia, OCD, maybe paranoid schizophrenia - and rampant male chauvinism (yeah, I totally wanted to shake Charles until his teeth rattled).

There's also the question of the unreliable narrator. How much of what we see in the way of the townspeople and Charles really happened and how much is Mary Katherine's perception of them?

So, seen in that light, it's an interesting enough story, perhaps purposely leaving you with that sense of wtfosity as a means of making you feel lost and confused and uncertain as people suffering from mental illness might feel.

I don't know if, like Felina, I feel manipulated, though it certainly has that aspect to it - instead of producing a story it goes for a sense of outreness via it's rampant confusion. But, if that confusion is the point as opposed to a story, well, then, it achieved that much.

So, yeah... I still don't know if I really liked it or not or what I even really think about it at all... (less)

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May 01, 2008 Becca rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hands down--one of my all-time favorite books. No, it's not a horror or thriller in the contemporary sense, but just like her short story "The Lottery" this book exudes the "horror" of mass hysteria in its climactic scene. What does it take to make us stop being civilized, even for a moment, and do awful things to other human beings?

Yes, the residents of this house are different, especially the true murderer. But do they deserve what happens to them? And is their visitor any less a villain just...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Anna Janelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Merricat, Merricat, or perhaps more formally Mary Katherine - not only do you possess a super fun nickname, but you are also one of my favorite types of narrators – the unreliable one that allows for alternate readings of the text. From the very beginning of the book, your murderous fantasies and loose hold on reality made me giddy with excitement and anticipation. And while I foresaw the “twist” far before the novel let the secret slip, it didn’t take away my general enthusiasm for the book. We...more description

Merricat, Merricat, or perhaps more formally Mary Katherine - not only do you possess a super fun nickname, but you are also one of my favorite types of narrators – the unreliable one that allows for alternate readings of the text. From the very beginning of the book, your murderous fantasies and loose hold on reality made me giddy with excitement and anticipation. And while I foresaw the “twist” far before the novel let the secret slip, it didn’t take away my general enthusiasm for the book. We Have Always Lived has taken its place in the realm of works that I have profound respect, and it will certainly warrant many re-reads in the future.

Mary Katherine Blackwood and her sister Constance live on the fringes of society in an imposing structure that stands apart from the village. Once a family of great wealth and numbers, they are now the only living inhabitants in the house, apart from their aging, crippled, forgetful Uncle Julian. While Merricat occasionally ventures into the village to purchase food supplies, Constance has not left the house in six years – when she was acquitted for the murder of her mother, aunt, brother and father. Merricat and Constance have a co-dependent relationship, each enabling the other to continue living in seclusion, away from the prying eyes of the world. The tragedy of the murder, a poisoning that occurred around the family dinner table, defines their life. On the good days when his memory isn’t addled by age, Uncle Julian devotes his time to writing his memoirs in an attempt to unravel what happened that fateful night. Merricat and Constance dwell in this past life, but not uncomfortably, still maintaining the possessions of their mother and father as if they were still living, using the very dinner table where their family fell dead, making inappropriate jokes that could seem startling to outsiders. It is not until the spring of this sixth year that things begin to shift, and Merricat feels the world that she has built around her crumbling to the ground.

Beginning with an uninvited visit from ladies from the village, the sisters’ lives are disrupted from their (somewhat disturbing) routine. Constance is encouraged to leave the confines of her house, and, much to Merricat’s horror, Constance seems to be invigorated by the idea. Before Constance can consider leaving the house, a long-lost cousin, Charles, appears on the Blackwood doorstep, seeking asylum. His presence threatens Merricat’s hold on her sister, and Merricat find his presence unbearable. Charles, on the other hand, does not see the history of the house and its possessions, only seeing the monetary value that he could retrieve from it. It is this conflict that fuels the climax of the novel (one that I refuse to spoil).

What I found to be the most intriguing was the perverse dynamic between the two sisters. As I stated before, the two are helplessly bound to one another – although it appears that Merricat is the captor that holds her sister to her side. Both girls are disturbed – Merricat more so than Constance. Merricat may have some form of autism; she is unable to interact with strangers and strange rituals, burying items and repeating magic words that she believes will protect her family. She very much reminds me of Frank, the filthy boy/girl in The Wasp Factory. Constance is the sacrificial lamb, cleaning and cooking to the point of obsession. While she is an attractive young woman, she gives herself only to her sister and uncle. And her sister greedily possesses her, keeping her in the castle, away from the prying eyes of villagers who may hurt them.

Ultimately, it was a creepy read that lends itself to a psychological reading. It was like reading The Turn of the Screw for me; I wanted to go after this book with all the literary analysis tools that my BA in English Literature gave me. And I still may. Because this book begs for an immediate second reading. I really enjoyed it. I thought it was intelligent, clever and haunting. Bravo to Shirley Jackson for this smart, sinister book!
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Feb 18, 2011 Adriana rated it 3 of 5 stars

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a quasi-horror fairytale about two sisters, Mary Katherine (Merricat) and Constance Blackwood, who live in isolation with their invalid uncle Julian. The villagers of the small town hate the Blackwoods. It could be their wealth or their elitist attitude. Or it could be the murder of 4 of the family members 6 years previous. The sisters interact little with the villagers and seem to have not matured at all since the loss of their family. Merricat, at 18, runs...more We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a quasi-horror fairytale about two sisters, Mary Katherine (Merricat) and Constance Blackwood, who live in isolation with their invalid uncle Julian. The villagers of the small town hate the Blackwoods. It could be their wealth or their elitist attitude. Or it could be the murder of 4 of the family members 6 years previous. The sisters interact little with the villagers and seem to have not matured at all since the loss of their family. Merricat, at 18, runs around like a wild animal and buries things for protection. Even uncle Julian is stuck in the past, trying to write a book about the murders. The real conflict isn’t clear until a third of the way through the book when long lost cousin Charles, shows up on the scene, threatening the Blackwood’s perfectly preserved routine. At 150 pages, this book is an intriguing thrill you can read in one sitting.

I read this book because I saw that it was labeled as an unreliable narrator, which I agree and disagree about. My initial reaction to the book was a bit disappointing. I thought it was disturbing and sad, but without any kind of plot twist to really make it worthwhile (There is a small reveal at the end, but no one will be surprised.) Also, there are a lot of small plot threads that are never explained, which some will enjoy as a chance for imagination, but others will find frustrating. However, after I read some other people’s reviews, I feel like I have a better understanding of the book. First of all, the book has a number of different mental conditions: agoraphobia, OCD, and insanity. Secondly, there is the whole element of who is the real enemy? Is the person who murdered the family the most evil person in the novel? What about the cruelty and hatred of the villagers? What about the greed of various characters? Unfortunately, I think the book isn’t long enough to really explore some of these themes adequately, but maybe that is the best part of all?
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Sep 09, 2007 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller, mystery

An incredibly haunting page-turner. The story of two sisters and their elderly uncle locked away on their sprawling estate from the surrounding villagers. The sisters are despised, mainly because they're rich but publicly because one of the sisters was accused of murdering the other four family members. The first-person narrative makes it difficult to keep the ending completely hidden but the story's not really about the mystery - it's about these two sisters attempting build a family out of the...more

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Jun 18, 2011 Mikki rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: novellas

Here is what we know about the Blackwoods:

1. They come from a pedigreed lineage deeply steeped in tradition and manners, 2. Everyone in the village hates them, 3. Their home is an elegant historic landmark that sits on miles of private acres which they're terrified to leave, and 4. Just six years ago there were many more Blackwoods -- a mother, father, younger brother and aunt -- but now there are only three.

There is eighteen year old Mary Katherine, her older sister, Constance and their elderl...more

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Apr 07, 2012 Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: evil-heroes, gothic, suspense, witches-witchcraft, small-town-america, murder, classics, jealousy, magic, prejudice, family-relationships

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Sigh...book perfection. When my book club read this last month on my suggestion, not everyone adored it as much as I did, but everyone agreed that it screamed "Ann" as they read it. Regardless of how you feel about it, it certainly gives the reader a lot to think about.

I think the thing I love the most about this book is that it reads as an inverted ghost/fairy/folk tale to me. It's like the back story to every witch or haunted house tale you've ever heard. By the end of the book, when the sist...more

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May 29, 2007 dave eck rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book reminds me of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying and Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion. Both books I hold dear but am not sure where We Have Always Lived in the Castle will rest.

Merricat and Constance Blackwood, the two main characters, live with their invalid uncle in the wake of their dead family. The novel follows Merricat and Constance through their daily rituals, revealing in spurts how their life alone came together. Rather than uncovering a truth, the revealation only marks...more

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Sep 26, 2007 Sierra rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who like their horror super-smart

So I just finished reading this for the second time, and I'm now sure it's one of my favorite books, ever. Shirley Jackson has been largely ignored as a major voice; she's most famous now for her book Raising Demons, about her experience as a mother, and for a couple short stories that have been widely anthologized but never positioned as part of a larger significant body of work. This book is totally, perfectly creepy and incredibly thought-provoking. The world she creates here is so seductive...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Marcy Dermansky rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. I benefited from not reading even the back cover, knowing nothing about it. I had never read anything by Shirley Jackson before except for her famous short story The Lottery. We Have Always Lived In This Castle kept on taking me by surprise. The plotting, amazing, the writing, the veneer of sadness. The monstrosity of cousin Charles. I am deeply in love with Merricat. Thinking about her also makes me sigh.

I finished the book last night, and this morning, when I took Nina to k...more

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Jan 02, 2009 Sam rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: novels

Like chainsmokers and alcoholics, most reading addicts - the sort of people who are unable to leave the house, ride the bus, or take a bath without a book in their hand - started the habit early in life. Mention Maniac Magee around me, for instance, and watch me tear up. You could chalk this up to nostalgia, I guess, but I think there's something else going on here; the really great children's books (young adult books?), or the really great books that are about children strike at the heart of so...more Like chainsmokers and alcoholics, most reading addicts - the sort of people who are unable to leave the house, ride the bus, or take a bath without a book in their hand - started the habit early in life. Mention Maniac Magee around me, for instance, and watch me tear up. You could chalk this up to nostalgia, I guess, but I think there's something else going on here; the really great children's books (young adult books?), or the really great books that are about children strike at the heart of so many neuroses and life-long confusions that they affect readers in ways most adult novels don't. It's not that you can't identify with novelistic adult characters - I remember feeling like Jude Fawley from Jude the Obscure was some sort of long-lost sibling - but if you want to make someone feel truly basic emotions like loneliness, comfort, and fear, you're best going a little younger, where the pain is more painful and the comfort is more comforting.

Shirley Jackson isn't a children's writer, certainly, and she doesn't deal in comfort. But she does use the tropes of the children's novel in this book, her last novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, which concerns the lives of two sisters who are shut up in old mansion after a tragedy took away half of their family. The younger sister runs wild through the countryside with her cat, while the older sister cooks elaborate meals for their demented uncle, who is plodding through his memoirs of the tragedy.

It sounds like a children's novel, right? But bear in mind that the younger sister is mildly demented, the older sister has a Stepford quality, the uncle is profane and morbid, and the house itself exerts an evil influence on the entire family. Children's literature is often about the development of the self; in the course of the story the characters grow! They mature! They figure out who they are! Except that in a Jackson story, characters grow inward, they regress, they split into many different pieces.

Anybody interested in a genuinely frightening investigation into the nature of morality and human identity in the guise of a children's story will love this book. (less)

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Kitty I'm reading Caroline Chute's latest novel, and the children in this book are hurled on courses that are in no way reassuring about progress or mental...more
Jan 06, 2009 11:23am

Julia I was obsessed with Shirley Jackson as a teenager. I will have to check this one out. Thanks, Sam!
Jan 07, 2009 06:38pm

Susan "Except that in a Jackson story, characters grow inward, they regress..."

Well put!
May 10, 2012 05:04am

Apr 11, 2009 Misha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008, novel

I read this to evaluate it as a potential book club selection. One of our members absolutely refuses to read "horror," so we were trying to determine whether this fit the mold. It didn't. Instead, it's a slowly creeping (although brief) tale of madness, death and small town prejudice told through the eyes of an introverted teenage girl who lives in a kind of fantasy world isolated with her sister and invalid uncle after someone has poisoned the rest of the family. A flashy, money-motivated cousi...more

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Mar 08, 2011 al•veiz rated it 3 of 5 stars

There is madness here, feminine madness. Madness in some ways tantalizingly similar to the madness described in The Haunting of Hill House (The only work penned by a woman that has ever sat on my idol shelf.) but in other ways just demented. The characters in We Have Always Lived in the Castle have suffered a grave tragedy. Their madness is justified by this. I don't like that about them. Jackson, like so many others, asks us to examine the incorrigible and horrific deficits embedded in human so...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!* rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-for-school, on-my-kindle, meh, no-me-gusta, realistic-fiction, surrealism

To be honest, I wouldn't have picked up this book on my own. (I was assigned to read it for my creative writing class this past semester.) I'm not a fan of Shirley Jackson. Her writing isn't bad, but I don't really like the attitude it expresses. There always seems to be this situation where the main character is disliked by everyone for little to no reason.

I understood that in this book in particular, the other townspeople had their suspicions about the protagonist and her family, but their hat...more

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Oct 13, 2011 Denae rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011, challenge-1010-by-2020

It would be difficult to overstate the creepiness of We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Shirley Jackson brilliantly weaves a story of three recluses who are all frightening in their own way. The book begins with the knowledge that something terrible has happened and something terrible is going to happen. The steady pacing and consistent revelation of just how terrible the lives of the Blackwoods are is countered by the arrival of a greedy, disruptive cousin. Despite knowing that the reclusive w...more

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Jul 01, 2012 Maria Kelly rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is a fabulous read for anyone who enjoys Jackson's work. Creepy and delicious writing, each word of this gothic mystery nudge the mind forward toward a terrifying truth that it does not want to, but nevertheless must accept.

Written in the first person, this compact classic (only 146 pages) follows the precocious ramblings of an eighteen year old girl, Mary Katherine (Merricat) Blackwood, who has been waited on and spoiled by her big sister Constance following the poisoning deaths of h...more

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Oct 31, 2011 Stephanie (The Night Bookmobile) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, best-of-adult, reviewed

“Merricat, said Connie, would you like a cup of tea? Oh no, said Merricat, you’ll poison me.”

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is my first book by Shirley Jackson and I will most certainly be picking up The Haunting of Hill House next. The story wasn’t quite what I was expecting. From the very first, you can tell the narrator is unreliable, and I figured out the “twist” early on, but perhaps I was meant to? I didn’t think it was all that subtle. Reading pages that delve into the unstable mind o...more

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Jul 08, 2010 J. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: gothic

Let's say four and a half stars. Shirley Jackson's 1962 novel is in the American-Gothic / Pulp vein, but doesn't deserve either tag so much, as it is original imaginative fiction, steeped in rich, high-relief characterization. Stanley Kubrick or John Huston would have done well by this in a film version... A novel of Manners, more or less, just really atrocious Manners, inexcusable by any standard.

The first person narrative comes from young Mary Katherine, orphaned at an early age and now a sel...more
Let's say four and a half stars. Shirley Jackson's 1962 novel is in the American-Gothic / Pulp vein, but doesn't deserve either tag so much, as it is original imaginative fiction, steeped in rich, high-relief characterization. Stanley Kubrick or John Huston would have done well by this in a film version... A novel of Manners, more or less, just really atrocious Manners, inexcusable by any standard.

The first person narrative comes from young Mary Katherine, orphaned at an early age and now a selfishly infantile eighteen years old. She's being parented by a permissive older sister who is oblivious to almost everything. The sisters live alone, attended by their housecat Jonas, in their mansion on the hill; the days are full of wandering the grounds, and elaborate, circuitous daydreams...

The day outside was full of changing light, and Jonas danced in and out of shadows as he followed me. When I ran Jonas ran, and when I stopped and stood still he stopped and glanced at me and then went briskly off in another direction, as though we were not acquainted, and then he sat down and waited for me to run again. We were going to the long field which today looked like an ocean, although I had never seen an ocean; the grass was moving in the breezes and the cloud shadows passed back and forth and the trees in the distance moved. Jonas disappeared into the grass, which was tall enough for me to touch with my hands while I walked, and he made small crooked movements of his own; for a minute the grass woulld all bend together under the breeze and then there would be a hurrying pattern across it where Jonas was running. I started at one corner and walked diagonally across the long field toward the opposite corner, and in the middle I came directly to the rock covering the spot where the doll was buried; I could always find it although much of my buried treasure was forever lost. The rock was undisturbed and so the doll was safe. I am walking on buried treasure, I thought, with the grass brushing against my hands and nothing around me but the reach of the long field with the grass blowing and the pine woods at the end; behind me was the house, and far off to my left, hidden by trees and almost out of sight, was the wire fence our father had built, to keep people out...

Each wrenching movement of the plot is so well attended by the coping mechanisms of the characters, each oblique development plausibly graced by girlish games and nicknames that -- well, that the reader has no real idea what's coming, but can't shake the gloom and foreboding involved. Reminiscent of the dreamy-ingenue first-person account in A High Wind In Jamaica, with a similarly unpleasant outcome.

To say more is to give away either the big developments which come as strong shocks, or to reveal the myriad little bits of narrative needlework that anchor this sad & cautionary tale.
Very recommended.

By the way, if you get the edition with the Jonathon Lethem "introduction"-- be aware that it is truly an Afterword, with at least one explicit spoiler spelled out in its otherwise insightful discussion. But maybe Afterwords are no longer 'done' by the upscale commentariat. Whatever the position, it is right about the idea of Mary Katherine's "feral presexual tomboy" voice being the triumph of the work, and that with sexuality so consistently distant throughout the proceedings, the ambiguity formed by its absence creates another distinct & dramatic undertow. (less)

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Sep 10, 2011 JG (The Introverted Reader) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to JG (The Introverted Reader) by: Misty

Shelves: 4_stars, author_american, fiction, gothic, read_in_2010, reviewed, young_adult

"My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister, Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in my family is dead."

And so begins Merr...more "My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister, Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise. I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cup mushroom. Everyone else in my family is dead."

And so begins Merricat's story about life for the last surviving members of the Blackwood family. There has been some sort of tragedy in the past, but Mary Katherine doesn't want to talk about it. She does want to talk about how much the villagers hate her family, how much she hates them, and how she wishes she could live on the moon.

Unsettling. That is by far the best word to describe this book.

Odds are that you didn't make it through high school without reading Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery." It would be a tossup between that and "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman for my choice as most disturbing short story ever.

Jackson somehow kept that same tone alive throughout a novel.

Short stories are generally creepier for me than novels are. Authors end up explaining too much in a novel and I'm able to put them out of my head. But all those unresolved questions in short stories cause them to stay with me in a way that very few novels do.

But Jackson pulled that off here. Wow.

So much of the eeriness comes from Mary Katherine, or Merricat, herself. She's eighteen, but it's almost like her mind stopped progressing at twelve, which is when the tragedy happened. I don't mean that she's "challenged" in anyway, it's just that she doesn't really see the need to grow up. I found myself constantly questioning her motives and her truths. Are her truths widely-accepted truths? And if not, who are you supposed to believe?

There is the feel of a hedge witch about Merricat. She has daily tasks that she sets herself, and part of that is making sure that their property is secure from strangers. Oh, she does check the locks, gates, and fences, but she also makes sure that the talismans she has hung from trees and buried in fields are also intact.

I felt sorry for her sister Constance. Constance is apparently beautiful and she seems to be happiest when she's taking care of others. But whatever happened in the past has left her ostracized from society, and honestly even agoraphobic. She should be raising a beautiful family, but she's instead trapped living in a museum of a house with her younger sister and her elderly uncle. But she sweetly goes about her days.

I do recommend this book if you're looking for something unexpected and...unsettling. That really is the best word. It was great for Halloween, and I won't be forgetting Merricat or Constance anytime soon.(less)

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Oct 16, 2009 Sessily added it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-books, own

This is the first book that I have read in one day and then woken up the next morning and began reading a second time. Despite it being a short book (the 1984 edition I read is a little over 200 pages long), it took me several days to finish it the second time around because mundane things kept intruding. I read slower, the second time around, not wanting to waste specific moments of the book on a lunch break when I wouldn’t have time to savor it. It was just as good the second time, and I was j...more This is the first book that I have read in one day and then woken up the next morning and began reading a second time. Despite it being a short book (the 1984 edition I read is a little over 200 pages long), it took me several days to finish it the second time around because mundane things kept intruding. I read slower, the second time around, not wanting to waste specific moments of the book on a lunch break when I wouldn’t have time to savor it. It was just as good the second time, and I was just as sad to close it and be forced to move on to other books.

Jackson’s greatest skill is in setting a mood. From the beginning to the end, we are in the mind of Mary Katherine “Merricat” Blackwood, a mind that is by turns comfortable and unsettling. From here on out, there isn’t much else that can be said without giving away those turns, which are best discovered through Jackson’s writing. It isn’t even that the turns--between comfort and discomfort and back again--are all that surprising; most readers will guess them before they arrive because Jackson doesn’t stint on the clues. And they seemed to me to be more about what Merricat, our narrator, refuses to talk or even think about, rather than what Jackson is deliberately keeping from the reader. Splitting hairs, perhaps, but I think it makes for the more powerful reading of the book (and I’m not convinced that authorial intent is always the best reading of a book). Whether Jackson intended them to be surprising or not, I found their true power to lie in the slow shifting of the ground as we move toward the end of the book. (And I feel I have to say this only because such statements as can be found on the back of this edition-- “All is peaceful at the Blackwood Estate--until a murderer strikes”--could lead some readers to assume it’s a mystery. It’s not.) (Also, if you want to read more about those turns without first reading the book, most any description you can find, on here, or in the recent New York Review of Books article by Joyce Carol Oates, or Jonathan Lethem’s introduction to the 2006 edition, will give you some of them and might even give it all away.)

This is an extremely rich book. There is so much I could talk about: the use of food, the depiction of love, the depiction of hatred, the search for a utopia or a paradise of sorts. I really love this book. It’s earned its way into my list of favorites. And I don’t know what more I can say about it here. I’ll end this with a quote from the book: (Jonas is a cat.)

“The day outside was full of changing light, and Jonas danced in and out of shadows as he followed me. When I ran Jonas ran, and when I stopped and stood still he stopped and glanced at me and then went briskly off in another direction, as though we were not acquainted, and then he sat down and waited for me to run again. We were going to the long field which today looked like an ocean, although I had never seen an ocean; the grass was moving in the breeze and the cloud shadows passed back and forth and the trees in the distance moved. Jonas disappeared into the grass, which was tall enough for me to touch with my hands while I walked, and he made small crooked movements of his own; for a minute the grass would all bend together under the breeze and then there would be a hurrying pattern across it where Jonas was running.”(less)

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Jul 25, 2009 Jo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

Jackson's 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' tells a delicious story of horror, isolation, murder and intrigue. With one of the most inspired and vibrant narrators that I can think of, this novel tells the story of Merricat, a young woman who lives in a mansion on a hill with her older sister, Constance and her Uncle Julian after a tragedy is inflicted on their family.
Merricat is the most charming and perfect narrator as she introduces you to her strange life, filled with her superstitions (s...more

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Apr 13, 2009 Sherry (sethurner) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, sci-fi-fantasy-horror, read-multiple-times

We Have Always Lived in the Castle has elements of horror - fear and loathing in an ordinary small town, a whiff of the supernatural, a big spooky old house, but it's more subtle than most. There are no ghosts, no bug-eyed monsters. The plot involves two sisters and an elderly uncle who live isolated in a New England town. The reader immediately sees that they are hated and feared, and eventually learns that the older sister was convicted of poisoning her parents and a brother. Arsenic in the su...more

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