#52books52weeks — 14/52 Shirley Jackson “We Have Always Lived in the Castle”
A haunting story of two sisters, their uncle and the mystery deaths of the rest of the Blackwood family that will leave you sleeping with your eyes open once finished.
The story revolves around Mary Katherine and Constance, who live in the family home with their crippled uncle Julian. They are the only members of the family who didn’t die around the dinner table from a fatal dose of arsenic in the sugar bowl six years ago. Constance’s acquittal and the murder itself has armed the nearby villagers with hate and paralysed them with fear thus isolating the remains of the Blackwood family.
It is a sinister, disturbing and twisted read that is filled with an odd sense of terror of the things left unsaid, things just hinted at but never loudly expressed, left for your brain to realise.
The narrator, Mary Katherine (Merricat), changes with every turn of the page and from a seemingly harmless troubled child she turns into twisted and manipulative character that sends shivers down your spine even on the warmest summer’s day.
Her character is written with such skill and vividness that her words really do come alive on the pages. Her voice is of a young woman trapped in a never ending childhood, as her and her sister are desperate to stick to strict routine and rules. Her reality is interwoven with magical rituals and special objects that can’t be changed.
The reveal of the true poisoner slowly but steady creeps up on you from the back and lightly taps you on the shoulder when it is least expected. It’s a slow and gradual reveal that is genius because of how casual and meaningless it’s made out to be.
This book is deeply disturbing in its simplicity that is yet so deceiving. It plays with your imagination, bending your understanding of reality. It is a masterpiece.
Merricat, said Connie, would you like a cup of tea?
Oh, no, said Merricat, you’ll poison me.
Merricat, said Connie, would you like to go to sleep?
Down in the boneyard ten feet deep!
