We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Paperback, 158 pages

English language

Published Jan. 8, 2009 by Peguin Group.

ISBN:
978-0-14-119145-4
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4 stars (85 reviews)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a 1962 mystery novel by American author Shirley Jackson. It was Jackson's final work, and was published with a dedication to Pascal Covici, the publisher, three years before the author's death in 1965. The novel is written in the voice of eighteen-year-old Mary Katherine "Merricat" Blackwood, who lives with her sister and uncle on an estate in Vermont. Six years before the events of the novel, the Blackwood family experienced a tragedy that left the three survivors isolated from their small village. The novel was first published in hardcover in North America by Viking Press, and has since been released in paperback and as an audiobook and e-book. It has been described as Jackson's masterpiece. Its first screen adaptation appeared in 2018, based on a screenplay by Mark Kruger and directed by Stacie Passon.

5 editions

Creepy, dated take on mental illness and fading old-money families

4 stars

Content warning Spoilers ahead!

Review of 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

4.5/5

Okay that was a super creepy book. I love the way Merricat narrates the book, her tone and thoughts are just so wild and erratic and freaky. She is insightful and yet childish. I loved her relationship with her sister as well, they truly deserve peace from the outside world after everything they had been through.

And Charles, oh man. What a horrible person. He was a character made just so you can hate him, and hate him I did. So well done.

Overall I loved the book. It was very effective and creepy and lovely and just such a big bag of emotions.

The Unease Never Leaves

3 stars

The reader finds themself taking part in the perplexing day-to-day lives of the remaining Blackwood family through the puzzling eyes of Miss "Merricat" Blackwood. This world has you always feeling that something is not quite right; from the villagers, to the Blackwood family, and the settings themselves, the lurking unease never leaves. This work is beautifully crafted but, upon finishing, I was left wondering why I had ever picked it up to begin with. (3.5/5)

Review of 'We have always lived in the castle' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Schwer über das Buch zu reden, ohne gleich alles zu verraten; ich verrate ungefähr dreiviertel, damit ich drüber berichten kann, also Spoiler ahead.
Ich frage mich, wie es in den Sechzigern gewesen sein muss, als dieses Buch herauskam. Aber auch für mich 2020 ist es erfrischend, Bücher zu lesen, die so sehr von ihren Frauen leben, die gleich zu Beginn als komplex und interessant vorgestellt werden. Die Hauptperson, Mary Katherine oder ,,Merricat"wie ihre Schwester sie nennt, läuft von Angst und Hass beseelt in der Stadt einkaufen und wünscht allen den Tod. Erst nach und nach wird aufgedeckt, warum auch die halbe Kleinstadt sie und ihre Familie nicht mag. Die Art, wie sie in der Stadt unterwegs ist, erinnert mich an durch Trauma ausgelöste Anxiety, alles wird auf Warnsignale abgescannt, sie, ein Onkel und ihre Schwester Constance leben in ihrem Zuhause wie in einer Zuflucht, ihre Schwester vor allem traut sich …

Review of 'We have always lived in the castle' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Shirley Jackson's craftsmanship is inspiring and this book is exactly what I needed after enduring a very long and poorly written tome. Here is a novel of concision and grace and more than a little intelligence. There are scenes so delicately suspenseful and evocative with such sparing detail (though never slipping into the iciness of minimalist prose) and yet others with a warmth and candor so natural I could hug them.

I would be hard pressed to come up with another novelist who can cover so much territory in so few pages so smoothly.

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Subjects

  • Fiction, psychological