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

5.0

Even though Shirley Jackson wrote this decades ago, her writing and the humor within it feels so relevant to today. This book in particular was very unsettling at first as Merricat told the reader what she wasn’t allowed to do, what objects could protect her family, along with her other rituals. The pacing of learning what really happened in the murder mystery involving her family was excellent, and I’m not upset about not knowing the motivations behind it. Shirley Jackson is so excellent at writing weird outcast girls, who I find to be VERY neurodivergent-coded. I would headcanon Merricat as having OCD, but I think there could also be some autism involved based on how relatable her thought processes were to me. There were also so many beautiful food descriptions, which I always love.