We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Penguin Modern Classics)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Penguin Modern Classics) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Merricat Blackwood lives on the family estate with her sister Constance and her uncle Julian. Not long ago there were seven Blackwoods - until a fatal dose of arsenic found its way into the sugar bowl one terrible night. Acquitted of the murders, Constance has returned home, where Merricat protects her from the curiosity and hostility of the villagers. Their days pass in happy isolation until cousin Charles appears. Only Merricat can see the danger, and she must act swiftly to keep Constance from his grasp.
About the Author
Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco in 1919. She first received wide critical acclaim for her short story 'The Lottery', which was published in 1948. Her novels - which include The Sundial, The Bird's Nest, Hangsaman, The Road through the Wall, We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House - are characterised by her use of realistic settings for tales that often involve elements of horror and the occult. Raising Demons and Life Among the Savages are her two works of nonfiction. Come Along With Me is a collection of stories, lectures, and part of the novel she was working on when she died in 1965.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Even the start of We Have Always Lived in the Castle is quite a chilling one told by the youngest daughter of the Blackwood family Merricat (from Mary Katherine) as she tells us that in a crumbling old building, we presume a castle, surrounded by woodland live her, her sister and her aging Uncle Julian (who seems to have Alzheimer's and even believes Merricat is dead) as outcasts from the nearby village. In fact in the opening chapters we see how the village treat her like some kind of leper, they will chide and tease her but they won't come near her for fear of her family name and past.
I won't give too much away about the book suffice to say there is a great mystery around her families death and one that as you read along you gain more snippets into until you find out one shocking twist which did actually make me let out a small gasp. The sinister tone of the book is underlying for most of the book and in some ways becomes much darker on the arrival of their cousin Charles who Merricat takes and instant dislike to before things come to a rather dark and dramatic head. A haunting novel that build slowly and yet will stay with you long after you finish it.
I won't give too much away about the book suffice to say there is a great mystery around her families death and one that as you read along you gain more snippets into until you find out one shocking twist which did actually make me let out a small gasp. The sinister tone of the book is underlying for most of the book and in some ways becomes much darker on the arrival of their cousin Charles who Merricat takes and instant dislike to before things come to a rather dark and dramatic head. A haunting novel that build slowly and yet will stay with you long after you finish it.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The wonderfully arresting first paragraph gripped me straight away. The novel is intensely controlled, perfectly, though sparely, written, and somehow - like its narrator - not quite sane. It draws the reader irresistibly into the world of a very unusual girl, and the rest of her damaged family. The narrating voice is utterly strange and memorable.
In her interesting afterword to the Penguin edition Joyce Carol Oates discusses the association between the central character, `Merricat', and witchcraft. I interpreted the narrator's intensely superstitious attitude, her obsessive use of `magic' tokens and rituals rather differently, as the reflection of an obsessive and compulsive personality who treats life like a board game where only she knows the rules.
There is much that is sly and unexpected in the novel. Despite the ghastly tragedy which lies behind the family, there is something celebratory about the way the life of this very strange household is depicted, its meals, its gracious surroundings. Normal people begin to seem like irritating intruders to us as well as to the characters.
Although I responded to `We Have Always Lived in the Castle' rather less emotionally than some of the other reviewers, I found it immensely powerful, and thought it was even better than `The Haunting of Hill House'.
In her interesting afterword to the Penguin edition Joyce Carol Oates discusses the association between the central character, `Merricat', and witchcraft. I interpreted the narrator's intensely superstitious attitude, her obsessive use of `magic' tokens and rituals rather differently, as the reflection of an obsessive and compulsive personality who treats life like a board game where only she knows the rules.
There is much that is sly and unexpected in the novel. Despite the ghastly tragedy which lies behind the family, there is something celebratory about the way the life of this very strange household is depicted, its meals, its gracious surroundings. Normal people begin to seem like irritating intruders to us as well as to the characters.
Although I responded to `We Have Always Lived in the Castle' rather less emotionally than some of the other reviewers, I found it immensely powerful, and thought it was even better than `The Haunting of Hill House'.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Constance, her teenage sister Merrycat, and their Uncle Julian (an unforgettable character) live like hermits in an old New England house, shunned by their small town neighbours.Constance was acquited of poisoning her parents, brother and aunt and she will not leave the house and its grounds. Then, one day, cousin Charles arrives, precipitating terrible events.This is a gripping classic of American gothic horror, beautifully written and psychologically acute. This new edition has a very illuminating afterword by Joyce Carol Oates.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A good 'crossover' read
A spirited, period feel builds up a wonderfully insular atmosphere steeped in Merricat's adolescent magic, and introduces some great characters. Read more
Published 5 days ago by neverendings
A gorgeous gothic novel
This is a dark, beautiful fairy tale. Two sisters and their uncle live a secluded life in their castle, the villagers down the road hate them and fear them. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dizzydays
Should be more popular
This is the second Shirley Jackson novel I have read (the first being The House on Haunted Hill) and thus far she has not disappointed me. Read more
Published 6 months ago by J. Willis
Chilling
'Merricat,' said Constance, 'Would you like a cup of tea?'
'Oh no,' said Merricat, 'You'll poison me. Read more
'Oh no,' said Merricat, 'You'll poison me. Read more
Published 9 months ago by A. M. Hendry
Recommend this read
This was chosen as a recent book club read and provoked a lot of discussion. Extremely well written, short and easy to read but satisfyingly sinister and thought provoking.
Published 10 months ago by RachelS
Gothic with a capital G
I was recommended this book and read it with quite low expectations in all honesty but I have to say I absolutely loved it. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Cuban Heel
Not the classic we're led to believe
Shirley Jackson is one of those authors whose work is - if you happen to have read a lot of fantastic literature - actually very disappointing. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Stephen E. Andrews
A great read!
I read this book for a book club and it would not be one that I would normally pick up.
I was very surprised to find I enjoyed it so much. Read more
I was very surprised to find I enjoyed it so much. Read more
Published 15 months ago by emzibah
Bizarre look at the darker side of life.
We Have Always Lived In The Castle is one of those books I have been meaning to read since I started blogging and I eventually got around to it at the end of last year. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Vivienne Serendipity
We Have Always Lived In The Castle
This is, without doubt, one of my favourite books of all time. From the brilliant opening line, you are totally wrapped in Merricat's bizarre and original world. Read more
Published 16 months ago by S Riaz
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
