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

dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is great -- a classic for a reason. It's got this strange, eerie, sort of claustrophobic feeling to the prose and the setting. You really get plunged deep into a skewed, myopic, deeply agoraphobic and mistrusting and paranoid point of view. Very dream-like and always a bit disconcerting. To be honest, starting to read this in 2021, I found that atmosphere was conjured so well that it was a little triggering and took time to finish. It's definitely possible to be in the wrong head space for this book, even though it's really good, and that's worth keeping in mind.
The mystery is kind of a non-mystery: it's sort of obvious pretty quickly who's behind certain events, if you're paying attention. But I dunno, that's not really the point. It's really good when read as a creepy character piece.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings