miguel-se7

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-cup mushroom. Everyone else in our family is dead.

So begins We Have Always Lived in the Castle, a fascinating Gothic tale by the hand of Shirley Jackson. Jackson is better known for her short story The Lottery which first appeared in the New Yorker and was quickly surrounded by criticism and outrage, I encourage you to give it a read if you haven't yet. You can find the full story here.

After a fatal incident that killed most of the family, the two Blackwood sisters and their uncle decide to live isolated from the town, which has turned hostile towards them. We discover their world through the voice of Merricat, the younger of the two sisters, who playfully shares with us the dark secrets of the town and her family. Their secluded life is turned upside down when a distant cousin comes to visit, setting the way for some gruesome developments.

Sinister, dark, twisted, horrifying, childlike, funny... these are some of the ways we could describe this novel. Jackson succeeds on creating a sense of uneasiness and horror through the novel, the kind of psychological horror you get by unearthing the dark sides of human nature.

The narrative of the book is superb, and the characters have a live of their own, it is hard not to feel charmed by the voice of Merricat, even when you know she is actually in the wrong.

So, If you are in the mood for a Gothic/Horror tale, look no further, you will be glad you gave We Have Always Lived in the Castle a chance.

You can find some of my favorite quotes from the book below.

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