A review by youreadtoomuch
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

5.0

This little book had it all: a family murder (come on 4 people were poisoned; this isn't a spoiler because that's literally the premise of the book), an estranged family, a beautiful home I wish I could visit, and a town that hates their guts. No seriously, everyone in this town has shunned the Blackwood family after Constance, the eldest daughter, was accused and acquitted of the murders. The few that talk to them are kind but keep at a distance. Mary Katherine "Merricat" Blackwood, the protagonist, is used to having things her way now 6 years from that dreadful night and is met with a huge obstacle in her Cousin Charles. He easily inserts himself into her father's posessions, is unkind to wheelchair-bound Uncle Julian, and convinces Constance she is to blame for the trio's recluse in the big house.

Shirley Jackson does a beautiful way of maintaining the mysterious poisoning of the Blackwood family in the back of the reader's mind throughout the whole book. There's a lot of foreshadowing and its keeps the suspense well alive and not at all played out. When you do find out who poisoned the family it feels very secretive as if you are one of the remaining family and don't wish to ever disclose it again or make anyone feel uncomfortable as if they didn't murder 4 people...

Was debating giving this 4 stars because of the townspeople but that isn't the books fault.
SpoilerWhen the fire rages on, the whole town destroys the beautiful house, well what remained. And they don't care for anyone that might live there. And they only leave when it is announced that Uncle Julian is dead. But they, I guess, made up for it by the food deliveries they send the house everyday but still.
It didn't make it a bad book but they were intolerable and I guess it was wonderful to feel enraged during this book.