You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
peppergp 's review for:
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
by Shirley Jackson
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Merricat is a delightful narrator, and her character gives the book its intrigue. Her emotional stasis, resembling the twelve year old she was during the incident rather than what you’d expect from an eighteen year old, make her both a joyous and very sad character to read.
The sisters’ relationship is also a real standout, particularly how Merricat views herself as Constance’s protector after Constance has risked everything to protect Merricat. It’s an interesting dynamic, especially considering the lack of resentment between them.
I would definitely rate it higher if not for the ending.I understand and can appreciate the structural reasons why it sort of peters off into the girls living in isolation and obscurity, because Merricat’s (and Constance’s) biggest flaw is the desire to keep things the same, always (we have ALWAYS lived in the castle). But that said, I did find the ending unsatisfying, and somewhat unbelievable. The villagers bringing them food seemed like such a neat, tidy resolution to their vitriolic relationship with the town. I would love to understand their class relationship more—Merricat used to freely explore the town, but her father’s family has always looked down upon the townspeople. Where exactly did the Blackwood money come from? Some form of direct exploitation of the town, maybe?
There was also never really the sense of why Merricat poisoned the family—because she was sent to bed without dinner? The lack of explanation almost makes it worse, but after the whole book was structured around the rhyme and the deaths of the family, it was hard to turn that last page with so little insight into that event.
And, although maybe it wouldn’t be as interesting in a literary sense, I was hoping to see some representation of how this isolated, stagnant way of living was absolutely destructive to the Blackwoods—but clearly it’s not. The unexpected aid of the townspeople allowing for the sisters to live uninterrupted, presumably forever, was a disappointing resolution in my opinion. This was clearly set up to be a tragedy (structurally, ending in loss against cosmic and social forces), but did not resolve as such, which shakes a reader out of the potential for catharsis at the end of the book. It’s a shame, because I otherwise very much enjoyed it.
The sisters’ relationship is also a real standout, particularly how Merricat views herself as Constance’s protector after Constance has risked everything to protect Merricat. It’s an interesting dynamic, especially considering the lack of resentment between them.
I would definitely rate it higher if not for the ending.
There was also never really the sense of why Merricat poisoned the family—because she was sent to bed without dinner? The lack of explanation almost makes it worse, but after the whole book was structured around the rhyme and the deaths of the family, it was hard to turn that last page with so little insight into that event.
And, although maybe it wouldn’t be as interesting in a literary sense, I was hoping to see some representation of how this isolated, stagnant way of living was absolutely destructive to the Blackwoods—but clearly it’s not. The unexpected aid of the townspeople allowing for the sisters to live uninterrupted, presumably forever, was a disappointing resolution in my opinion. This was clearly set up to be a tragedy (structurally, ending in loss against cosmic and social forces), but did not resolve as such, which shakes a reader out of the potential for catharsis at the end of the book. It’s a shame, because I otherwise very much enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Dementia, Murder
Minor: Ableism