We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
Shirley Jackson's beloved gothic tale of a peculiar girl named Merricat and her family's dark secret
Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate. This edition features a new introduction by Jonathan Lethem.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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Readers say *We Have Always Lived in the Castle* shows Shirley Jackson’s signature, distinctive voice—especially through Merricat—and builds an eerie,...
This is my second Shirley Jackson book, and she really doesn't pull any punches when it comes to exploring the often underdiscussed, subtle, everyday horrors of the human psyche.
Merricat and Constance are two sisters living in isolation with their disabled Uncle Julian, away from the village, whose residents keep their distance because they suspect Constance of poisoning her entire family, despite her having been acquitted.
The story is narrated by Merricat, and right from the beginning, her thoughts have me wondering what exactly is going on. Between the sisters' fears, agoraphobia, paranoia, imagined dread, creepy conversations, and Merricat's rather disturbing thoughts, I'm left wondering whether the real problem lies with the village or the girls themselves.
And then Charles enters, and I'm back to wondering whether the girls will be alright with him and the village around them. Before long, I'm right back where I started, playing this game of who's the bigger creep?
It's a haunting story, and a spooky one too, but there are no ghosts, spirits, monsters, or paranormal elements at play. Just people, a place, the horrors lurking within the human mind, and the actions that come out of them.