We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Six years ago there were seven Blackwoods.  Now there are only three; elder sister Constance, uncle Julian and eighteen-year-old Mary Katherine, or, Merricat, as she's called by her sister.  It's generally accepted that Constance poisoned the family by putting arsenic in the sugar bowl.  But she was quickly acquitted.  Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a delightfully macabre tale, quintessentially Gothic in its portrayal of an eccentric family ostracized by local villagers, reminiscent of those I encountered in Jackson's famous short story, The Lottery. 

Merricat narrates the story, beginning with her weekly trip into the village for groceries and new library books.  Constance is a bit of an agoraphobe, never leaving the house, and uncle Julian is confined to his wheelchair, so it falls on the younger sister to attend to all the errands.  Merricat seems much younger than her years, but she copes as well as she can with the hostile villagers and taunting children who can't seem to forgive the family for their past misbehaviors.  It doesn't take long to figure out that quirky Merricat is not the most reliable of narrators.  But what an interesting character, strange as it may sound I have a soft spot for unreliable narrators.  Her coping mechanisms consist of game playing, much like a children's game board, to get from one street to the next and avoid interaction with the locals until she is safely out of the village and on Blackwood property where she can lock the world out.

Merricat also has a habit of burying or hiding things, small talismans, to keep the family and house safe from intruders.  When she discovers a book of her father once nailed to a tree now lying on the ground, it's as if the guard has been let down and they are all momentarily in peril.  Before she can decide what trinket can replace the book to keep them safe, someone comes knocking on their door.  Their carefully constructed world is about to come falling down around their shoulders.

Charles Blackwood, their cousin, has come to pay his respects.  When his father was alive he was not allowed to communicate with this branch of the family, but as his father has passed away, he's wasted no time to call on his remaining family.  Merricat doesn't trust his intentions as he worms his way into the household and questions all their firmly held beliefs on how to live.  He sees poor uncle Julian as a demented old man, yet its through his ramblings that we slowly learn the details of the crime.  And Merricat is simply unexplainable and troublesome to him.  The tension mounts as he tries to lure Constance away from her solitary yet comfortable surroundings. 

This is a wonderfully told story, and trust me, when you pick it up and start reading you won't want to put it down until you turn that last page.  And as you read all your assumptions of the characters and their motivations will come into question.  The ending was fairly neatly tied up, yet so many things were not at all explicit, leaving the reader to contemplate just why things happened as they did. This was Jackson's last novel, published in 1962, just a few years before her death.  I'm not sure how accurate this is, but I read that elements in the story were loosely based on Jackson's own agoraphobia and nervous conditions, and the sister's were based on her own two daughters.  Was it just me, or did there also seem to be a subtle and subversive humor to the story as well?  I think Jackson really is a master storyteller and I hope she is and continues to be widely read. I know I'll be reading more of her work.

This was my third R.I.P. Challenge read.  I'm racking them up this month as three out of the last four books I've finished have been R.I.P. books.  I may actually finish a challenge.  I will mostly likely pick up Wilkie Collins's The Law and the Lady, though I am also contemplating the shorter The Murdered House by Pierre Magnan.  Both look like wonderful reads. 

Comments

[Cath]

I just got this in the mail today so have not read most of your review. Suffice it to say I'm delighted to hear that it's such a brilliant read and I'll be popping back to read your thoughts on it when I've read it.

[Sarah]

So many bloggers have read this recently, and as a result I really want to know what happens. I've only read The Lottery by Jackson, so will look out for this.

[Kitty]

I'm so glad you liked this one. It's one of my favorite novels in the world. In Judy Oppeheimer's bio of Jackson, she does say that people thought the girls were very much like Jackson's daughters Jan and Sally. And Jackson definitely had issues of agoraphobia.

I'm delighted that people are getting into reading Jackson again. IMHO, she's one of our great American authors and has been unjustly neglected.

[Kitty]

Oops. OPPENHEIMER.

[Danielle]

Cath--I hope you like it as much as I did. I'll watch for your post. She's such a great author that I am looking forward to reading more.
Sarah--I've seen it popping up around, too. I highly recommend it. And it is even a quick read--a slim book but very absorbing.
Kitty--I'm really glad she's being read a lot these days, too. I think Carl's RIP challenge has spurred some extra reading, which is nice. I've had the book for ages, and now I have to read Haunting of Hill House, too. I'm glad what I read was accurate in terms of the agoraphobia and her daughters. I will have to look for that bio! She seems like such an interesting person.

[Litlove]

I read Stefanie's review of this a while back and thought it sounded most intriguing, and now yours has made it even more so! I also remember the review you wrote of The Lottery, and hadn't put two and two together that this was the same author. Sigh. One more for the wish list!

[Stefanie]

Wonderful review Danielle! Wasn't this a delightful book? I really enjoyed it. I agree that there is a subtle humor there too. Have you read Haunting of Hill House? You'll definitely like that one.

[Melanie]

I really want to read this for the RIP so I only skimmed your review so far. I love Shirley Jackson so I am looking forward to this. I like "The Law and the Lady", it's quite interesting detective-wise but I love "Armadale" the most of all of Collins.

[iliana]

Ooh so many people are reading this one and it sounds wonderful! I've only read The Haunting of Hill House which I greatly enjoyed but obviously I'm missing out. Congrats on doing so well on your R.I.P. challenge - I've read my two books but just haven't gotten around to review them. You know how that goes :)

[Lisa]

Great review. I loved this book.

[Lesley]

I'm so excited to see this book getting a mention and a hearty recommendation. I stumbled upon this book and bought it because it sounded so eccentric! I'd never heard of Jackson, or read The Lottery (I'm not from round here!). I reviewed it here: http://chapteriii.blogspot.com/2008/01/weird-and-wonderful-id-never-heard-of.html

[Tara]

I need to read some Shirley Jackson! I've had these books for years, just need to pick them up.

[Marie]

This sounds really interesting, I need to add it to my list of books to read -- the ever growing list!

[Andi]

It seems like all my fave bloggers are reading this for RIP this year! It looks fantastic!

[Danielle]

Litlove--I think you might enjoy her--a different style of American author altogether! We Have Always Lived in the Castle just seems classic reading and it's also quick going.
Stefanie--I haven't yet read The Haunting of Hill House, but I do have it and plan on squeezing it in eventually. Like you mentioned, once you get into the story it was hard to put it down!
Melanie--I am going to see what else my library has by her. I think she also wrote a humorous book that sounds like fun. And I agree wholeheartedly with you--Armadale is also my favorite, and then The Woman in White, but I have to say I am enjoying enormously The Law and the Lady--definitely the right book at the right time for me. While not quite in the same league as Armadale--still well done!
Iliana--The reading part is always much easier and more enjoyable than the writing about it part--for me anyway. I think I may actually finish a challenge (and ahead of time) for once! And I must read Haunting of Hill House, too!
Lisa--I can see why so many people are reading it. I was looking for other reviews and I found them all over the place, which is nice to see--I'm really glad she's still being read.
Lesley--Thanks for the link. Isn't it great to discover new authors--especially foreign authors. She is eccentric--and she does it so well. Did you get to read The Lottery, too?
Tara--I'm not sure how long I have had my copies, but I know I bought them used. I'm sure they must have been sitting on my shelves for at least five years!! You'll get to them eventually, too.
Marie--It's impossible to keep up with that list, isn't it? Definitely a good one to add, by the way.
Andi--I've also seen it popping up all over the place--well, this or her other macabre title!

[Dorothy W.]

How fun this book sounds. Definitely you and Stefanie have me wanting to read more Shirley Jackson! I love unreliable narrators too -- they are just so interesting to figure out, aren't they?

[Danielle]

Dorothy--Unreliable narrators do make really interesting characters. They can turn a story on its head and I like the unpredictable. I think you would like this one and it is a quick read, too!

[bybee]

Castle is my favorite of Shirley Jackson's fiction books, and I'm so happy when I read that someone liked it.

[Danielle]

Bybee--This is one of those times when I think how long I've owned this book, and why did I wait so long to read it!! I think nearly all the reviews I've read of it have been very positive. It's easy to see why it is so popular.

[Danielle]

Bybee--This is one of those books that I've owned a long time and when I finally get around to reading it I wonder what took me so long?! I think every review I've read has been positive. It's easy to see why it is such a popular read at the moment.

[paul]

re: "Subtle and subversive humor"

I think the book is a comedy. I really do. I think she meant the book to be funny, and it is. What is it most, besides interesting? It's not a mystery, really; it's not a horror novel or even particularly creepy, though it contains elements and is "Gothic"; what it mostly is, is funny. So I'd call it a comedy. I read it to laugh, albeit they're more small, smiling laughs at a lovably weird narrator than big ha ha laughs. Jackson could be very funny when she wanted to be. It's actually interested to compare her other well known novel to this, to see how a few tweaks can completely alter the mood of a thing. Eleanor in Hill House had many of the same daydreamy fanciful weirdness as Merricat, but one was handled tragically and pathetically, while one - wasn't. But the characters could have been very similar. Also there's a kind of comic interlude in Hill House involving the arrival of the Professor's wife, that showed that Jackson could be funny with macabre material if the mood took her.

Anyway she's a wonderful writer. Much loved.