A review by katengler5
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 

This is now my second Shirley Jackson novel (the first being Haunting of Hill House), and after this one, I think I have a better understanding of her technique as a writer. I thoroughly enjoyed both books, however both gave me a similar "that's all?" feeling. And now I understand that the labelling of her works as "horror" is what might be doing some disservice to her books. Because they are considered horror, I kept expecting some sort of big horror climax which never seems to come. Comparing the two books though, I realized that she doesn't tell horror stories, but she creates characters who are just odd enough that even a semi-mundane story about them can create an unsettling environment. It almost gives the same feeling as when you see those clips of 1950s families smiling and waving on a block in suburbia, and even though everyone is smiling, you get a feeling of uneasiness (a trope that has been included in many horror and horror adjacent movies, which I always enjoy). 

 

In We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson does a great job of creating an eccentric family of characters who continuously compete for most "out there" in the reader's mind. The story is about two girls who live with their elderly uncle in a castle near a village. All the villagers relentlessly hate the family due to a mysterious circumstance that happened there a few years back. 

 

As the story progresses though, we start to get hints that the reader may not be getting the full, true picture of the story. I realized how little trust I had in the narrator when I was fully ready to believe we were having a Sixth Sense moment as soon as it was suggested by the senile uncle. 

 

When reading this book, don't expect a horror story with a beginning, a climax, and a definitive end. Instead it’s a story of a family whose members each have their quirks, and we watch as they battle between giving into the safety of what they know and the challenge of embracing the normal world, and we see as they progress further and further in one of those directions.