We Have Always Lived in the Castle
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3.9 • 54 Ratings
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- $0.99
Publisher Description
Mary Katherine “Merricat” Blackwood and her elder sister Constance live alone in their ancestral home with their crippled uncle after the tragic murder of both of their parents, their aunt, and their younger brother. Having been accused and later acquitted of the murders, Constance confines herself to the grounds of their home, while Merricat contends with their hostile neighbors and with the ever-increasing sense of impending danger she feels is heading their way.
In We Have Always Lived in the Castle, author Shirley Jackson deftly handles delicate subjects like mental illness, agoraphobia, and social isolation. We Have Always Lived in the Castle was Jackson’s final novel, and has been held in high critical esteem since its publication in 1962.
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PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Since the mysterious death of four family members, the superstitious Mary Katherine "Merricat" Blackwood, her ailing uncle Julian, and agoraphobic sister Constance have lived in a bizarre but contented state of isolation. But when cousin Charles arrives in search of the Blackwood fortune, a terrible family secret is revealed. Bernadette Dunne's reading is flawlessly paced and suspenseful. The voices she provides the cast of characters are spot on: precocious Merricat is haunted and increasingly desperate; Constance is doting but detached; Uncle Julian is both pleasantly dotty and utterly unnerving; and Charles is the conniving villain listeners will love to hate. A treat for fans of mystery and suspense.
Customer Reviews
Repetitive and Uninteresting
A drawn out story that ultimately could have been much briefer without losing anything narratively. There are no unexpected twists or developments, and the characters seem to act infuriatingly illogical throughout.
I thought that ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’ would be a horror, but it was just a tale of mental illness. I kept reading with the hope that it would get better… and then it ended.
Perhaps I missed the message, but I found it to be a repetitive slog without much intrigue.