Book Review
Title: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Genre: Classic, Gothic, Horror
Rating: 2.75 Stars
I recently read The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and I didn’t love it although it came highly recommended so I am giving her other highly recommended book a go before I write off the author as not for me. The opening to We Have Always Lived in the Castle was confusing to say the least, we are introduced to Mary Katherine Blackwood and her sister Constance who live with their uncle Julian on the family farm but they seem to be hated by everyone in the local village. Mary Katherine is the only member of the family that leaves the house for any reason and its normally to get food and books in order to sustain them while they live in the house. As we get to know the family we can tell something is wrong with them especially when the murder of the rest of the family is mentioned. We learn that the entire family was poisoned with arsenic from a meal that Constance cooked and the only one to escape alive was uncle Julian although he was mildly poisoned. Mary Katherine escaped because she was not present at the dinner and although Constance prepared the meal and was arrested she was later acquitted but there is still resentment towards the family from the village.
Uncle Julian seems to be suffering from some form of dementia where he relives the day his family was murdered over and over while Mary Katherine seems to have to job of casting spells of protection over the house. One day Mary Katherine can feel a change coming and when she finds the protective barrier around the house broken and their cousin, Charles arrives shortly after she knows that something needs to be done. Things begin getting strange when Charles inserts himself into the house and seems to win over Constance almost immediately and begins changing the routine of the house which Mary Katherine really doesn’t like. She asks Charles to leave but he refuses and there is talk of moving uncle Julian into a hospital and he begins taking away the freedom that Mary Katherine has had for most of her life and she decides to use her “magic” to get rid of Charles once and for all. These little hints make me things that Constance had the knowledge to poison people and the cooking skills but it might have actually been Mary Katherine that slipped the poison in and she might do the same with Charles but I am going to have to see where Jackson takes the story.
Cousin Charles has been staying for a while slowly dismantling the protections around the house and Mary Katherine does her best to prevent it but when Charles’ pipe starts a fire that destroys a good portion of the house, Mary Katherine can’t take anymore. She plans to kill everyone in the village just like she did with her family and we can see that Constance has been working for years to make sure her sister didn’t remember what she had done. Uncle Julian dies the night of the fire as his heart gives out but the girls continue to live in the ruined house. The people of village bring offerings to them for their poor behaviour and everything seemingly returns to normal. While I enjoyed We Have Always Lived in the Castle more than The Haunting of Hill House, the purpose of the novel was just as vague as it doesn’t make it clear whether the girls are live and witches or whether they are actually spirits haunting the house. Overall, it was better than The Haunting of Hill House but I don’t think Shirley Jackson is an author I am ever going to truly enjoy or love.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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