We Have Always Lived in the Castle
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By Shirley Jackson
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‘Her greatest book … at once whimsical and harrowing, a miniaturist’s charmingly detailed fantasy sketched inside a mausoleum … the deeper we sink, the deeper we want to go’ Donna Tartt
Living in the Blackwood family home with only her sister Constance and her Uncle Julian for company, Merricat just wants to preserve their delicate way of life. But ever since Constance was acquitted of murdering the rest of the family, the world isn’t leaving the Blackwoods alone. And when Cousin Charles arrives, armed with overtures of friendship and a desperate need to get into the safe, Merricat must do everything in her power to protect the remaining family.
With an afterword by Joyce Carol Oates
‘The world of Shirley Jackson is eerie and unforgettable … She is a true master’ A. M. Homes
‘A masterpiece of Gothic suspense’ Joyce Carol Oates
‘If you haven’t read We Have Always Lived in the Castle … you have missed out on something marvellous’ Neil Gaiman
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I hadn't heard of Shirley Jackson until a few weeks ago and, understanding this to be one of her best books, bought it and read it.
A novel about a dysfunctional family told through the eyes of the seemingly psychopathic Mary Katherine (Merricat) it's chilling and thought provoking. To see the world through the eyes of somebody with a different prism to most other people is disturbing. Jackson herself was a somewhat odd woman who lived in unkempt surroundings and died young. Evidently, something of her own personality is coming through her characters. Would I read another of her novels? Yes, I definitely would!
