Review: We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson
by Jenners • 10/31/2010 • 4 Stars, Classics, Fiction, Gothic/Horror, J Authors, Mystery/Thriller, W Titles • 43 Comments
We Have Always Lived In the Castle
Shirley Jackson
Penguin Books, 1962
214 pages
Genre: Fiction
My Rating: 4 Stars (Add to Your TBR List)
This was the seventh (and final) book I read for the RIP V Challenge. Because I didn’t want to get too far behind in writing these reviews, I decided to review all my RIP books by answering the 5Ws―Who, What, When, Where, Why. (And, miraculously, I read and reviewed all my RIP books by Halloween!!!)
Scare-O-Meter Rating: 6 screams out of 10
WHAT is this book about?
The Blackwood family (what is left of them) live in a large estate outside a village. The gates leading to their home are always shut, secured by padlocks. The villagers don’t like the Blackwood family very much. In fact, it would be safe to say they despise them. Perhaps even hate them. The only member of the Blackwood family who ventures into the village is 18-year-old Mary Katherine (known as Merricat). Her trips to the village are done only out of necessity. After all, Merricat and her family need groceries and the occasional library book. But one day, Charles (a long-lost relative) comes for a visit, and his presence starts to change things around the Blackwood house with disastrous and unexpected results.
WHO do we meet?
- Merricat is our narrator and is quite unique. From the moment you meet her, you know she is a bit different. Consider the opening paragraph:
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.
- Constance is Merricat’s older sister. She never leaves the estate and is quite the object of curiosity around the village for reasons you’ll discover when you read the book. Constance loves to cook and dotes on Merricat like her own child.
- Uncle Julian is the only other member of the Blackwood family living in the house. He’s in poor health and occasionally confused about where and when he is living. He is obsessed with his project, which involves writing about a fateful night in the Blackwood family history.
WHEN and WHERE does the book take place?
The story takes place in and around the Blackwood estate in an unnamed village, probably in the early 1960s.
WHY should you read this book?
Merricat is an unforgettable narrator, and I doubt you’ll soon forget her. I found her simultaneously amusing and creepy. Jackson does a brilliant job of presenting Merricat’s world view (and her own special brand of magic). I suspect you’ll be drawn into Merricat’s world, which is a different place indeed. At just 214 pages, We Have Always Lived In The Castle is a short read, but Jackson manages to create a memorable story filled with atmosphere and an unforgettable narrator. This was my last book for the RIP Challenge, and it was the perfect way to end.
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This one sounds like its right up my alley, very spooky!
I’m putting it on my TBR list. I hope the library has a copy.
(They haven’t had some of the others you reviewed so I’ll have to wait. Stupid debt diet.)
Yeah … stupid debt diet.
This is one of my favorite books that I read in high school. I reread it again about every 5 years and have a new edition on my shelf right now in preparation for my next read of it!
Wow … you really love this book! : )
Seven RIP reads? Hooray! I’m so glad that you joined in this year! And this is a perfect read for this challenge. I would be scared to death if Merricat were my sister.
I hear you … I would love to read a book from Connie’s perspective. Thanks for encouraging me to join RIP in the first place. It was a fun challenge. I’ll do it again next year.
This looks like an interesting quick read for me
Another worth checking out. :0)
I love this book and had it out to reread it recently but still haven’t gotten around to it!
sounds like a good one.
Looks so good – may need to be thinking about throwing this one on the TBR>
It is a fun short read.
dear jenners,
i just read your comment on my blog which was
very sweet and respectful,
BUT, i must tell you that i would never hand out
a religious tract to a trick or treater! always the
best candy i can find! i never thought to say
that. one of my worst writing habits . . . the
sin of omission.
I would never think that you would have handed out religious tracts … but I’m so surprised that someone did. It boggled my mind.
I have had this book on my shelf for ages, and after reading that snippet that you posted, I want to grab it right now and give it a read. It sounds excellent and like a book I’d very much enjoy! I am glad you liked it, and now feel silly for ignoring it for so long!
It is a quick read and really kind of enjoyable. Merricat is quite different.
I have no little one’s so I’m plundering what my husband brought home to give out. I’ve added this to my list of TBR. I’m a week behind in Musashi. How you doing?
I finally got the Musashi reading done but need to write my post. I’m hoping to do it tomorrow. Each week, I get a little further behind.
This sounds good! Who can resist weird families in old Gothic houses?
Exactly! It is a winning combination, I think.
This is definitely a good book to fill out the RIP challenge; it’s so wonderfully atmospheric and moody. Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween to you too! I’m anxious to plunder my Little One’s candy!
I have been dying to read this one!
I hope you do!
I agree….this was the perfect ending for your RIP posts. It’s been years since I’ve read any Shirley Jackson and this one slipped by me. Maybe next year for RIP VI!
This was her final book … what a way to go out.
I loved this little book…and I bought the copy that shows up in your little amazon ad, because it was the spookiest copy the bookstore had!
I ended up with the cover that appears at the top … but I much prefer the spookier b&w one.
I made the mistake of confusing your scare-o-meter with your rating, so at first I was thinking you were saying you didn’t like this one so much. I was about to pout, but the review looked very good…then I figured it out!
I really enjoyed reading this one! I need to go back and read some more Shirley Jackson next year for RIP.
I definitely want to read more Shirley Jackson. I read “The Lottery” so long ago that I barely remember it.
Sounds like a promising read and I love the cover as well.
That cover is great, isn’t it?
I love that everyone has been enjoying this so much! It really is an unforgettable story, and the narrator’s voice is done SO well.
I so agree … Jackson creates such a unique narrator. I’ve never met anyone quite like Merricat.
I liked this book, but I definitely thought the “mystery” was evident right at the very beginning. Nevertheless, it was a fun read.
I didn’t think it was so much of a mystery as a character study. And a fun one at that!
I have yet to read anything by this author, but I’m told if I want creepy this is where I should go. You are really on a roll with RIP! I’m impressed.
I tell you … doing the WWWWW reviews helped me keep on track with RIP.
I enjoyed this one as well; very different. Congrats on the great job for RIP V.
Thanks! It feels good to have finished ON TIME for once!
When I was straightening up my books this week, I discovered that I have a copy of this. SOunds like I could handle this level of spooky.
It is a manageable level of spooky!