we have always lived in the castle. shirley jackson. (193)

the library book i checked out is kind of ho hum so thought i would share the over that penguin did for it recently:

eerie, right?  and perfect for the novel.

i picked up we have always lived in the castle because shirley jackson was flavorwire's author's club month selection for march.  though i feel flavorwire did a bad job of promoting the club, i never saw updates on their fb wall, i am glad they introduced this book to me.  (and yes i didn't read this until may, but in my defense, i had to wait for it from the library and then i didn't see any updates so it went lower on my to-read list.)

regardless, i am glad that flavorwire promoted this book because i would have never read it in my own.  i am not one for horror movies so horror books are not my thing either.  horror movies i don't watch partially because they are usually poorly written and the acting is normally the only truly scary thing.  however, horror books i avoid because i am scared of the ideas they will leave in my imagination.  for example i will never watch the series "american horror story" for fear that i won't be able to sleep at night.  i mean the "portlandia" skit of "american horror story" was almost too much for me.  i say i don't believe in ghost but i always freak myself out sometimes with thoughts of ghost.  so shirley jackson is definitely an author i would have overlooked.  however, i absolutely loved we have always lived in the castle, i was on the edge of my seat the entire time and became engrossed in the story.  

before i go on, i must warn you there are spoilers.  so if you have not read this book, i suggest you stop here and go read it.

we have always lived in the castle is the story of two sisters, constance and mary katherine (merricat) blackwood, that live in their family's home with their uncle julian.  the rest of their family is dead.  they live in seclusion, and as seen from merricat's weekly visits into the village, are hated by the outside world.  the reason for their seclusion is subtly and slowly revealed throughout the novel.

this novel was beautifully crafted by jackson,  it is not outright frightening but as bits and pieces are revealed in the slow build up to the climax, you are shocked and appalled by what has occurred.  the secrets of the family are cleverly revealed through a conversation with a nosy visitor.  constance, merricat, and uncle julian are the surviving members of a horrible homicide that occurred in their home.  one evening, the other members of the family, constance and merricat's father, mother, and brother and uncle julian's wife were poisoned, arsenic was put in the sugar bowl.  constance was the prime suspect but was acquitted.  

through foreshadowing, the reader knows who the culprit is though it is not said outloud until later as the climax of the work.  the pieces start to add up, merricat has this pagan/wiccan-ish view of the world, finding safety in words and turning objects into shields against evil, she is also not allowed to help with food prep, and lastly she was an unruly child that was sent to her room without supper on the night of the deaths.

though merricat is a little off, it isn't until cousin charles showed up that the reader sees what she was capable of.  the interesting thing is that though the reader knows merricat murdered her family, one is on her side during her confrontations with cousin charles.  in fact, i went ad far as wishing her to harm him.  which is kind of horrible but brilliant that jackson created this character that we know is crazy yet makes perfect sense.  does that then make me crazy?!?! 

cousin charles appeared to be a voice of reason at first but then showed his true colors brainwashing constance so he could get their money.  i was disgusted by cousin charles and glad that merricat saw through him.  i was outraged by the way he spoke of uncle julian, trying to put him in a home.  so though it was horrible that a fire was needed to rid the house of charles, i am glad it happen, though they did lose uncle julian.

in the end, the girls do find happiness.  they cut themselves off from the world, but not completely.  the village sees the error of their ways and bring the girls meals as forgiveness.  the girls also become a sort of urban legend.  to a certain extend, i wish they had ran off with their money and found happiness outside in the world, but in the end, their castle was their haven and i am glad they kept it.

we have always lived in the castle is a wonderfully written and very intriguing book.  once it gets started, i couldn't put it down.  even though i am still not one for horror, i do plan on reading more of shirley jackson's works, hopefully they don't give me nightmares.