We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson – Review

This book was such a good pick for October. Not scary, but a bit odd and creepy. It follows two disturbed adult sisters and their uncle in their secluded life. Six years after a tragic event in their family, a visitor comes and mixes up their routine.

• Paperback, Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition (US/CAN),
• 146 pages
• Published October 31st, 2006 by Penguin Books

Goodreads Blurb:

My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise, I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cap mushroom. Everyone else in my family is dead…

Why I loved this book:

• The characters are unique and memorable, as well as consistent. There are very few main characters in this book, but you see the different personalities in each.
• It still leaves a lot of room for the imagination. I don’t want to ruin the book for anyone. But it seems there would be a bigger reason why things happened the way they did. I think this was very well executed and leaves you wanting to know more.
• I very much enjoyed the relationship between the sisters as well as the uncle. Even the interactions with the antagonist worked very well.

Eh.

I feel like it was a bit predictable, but there was still the urge to keep going and find out. This was probably on purpose because I still feel like even though the main mystery was predictable, there were more questions to be answered.

Conclusion

This story will probably be in my mind for a good long time. This is probably very vague. But I think going to this story not knowing what will happen would make it more enjoyable. It is a short story, and something happens on every page. I would definitely recommend it.

The movie is quite similar to the book with very few changes.