We Have Always Lived in the Castle

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

1962 • 146 pages

Ratings316

Average rating4

15

Shirley Jackson’s beloved gothic tale of a peculiar girl named Merricat and her family’s dark secret

Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate.

Become a Librarian

Reviews

Popular Reviews

Reviews with the most likes.

Shirley Jackson's final novel. Surreal and... Let's call it Northern gothic? Brief but haunting. Plot turns mostly predictable.

November 30, 2015

Never really got into it. 3.5 stars

August 16, 2016

Read my review on my blog here: https://theconsultingbookworm.wordpress.com/2014/11/30/we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle-shirley-jackson/

May 20, 2015

Top Prompts

Featured Prompt

36 books

#7 in What are some books that messed with your mind?

Collecting books that disturbed you, made you think, or haunted you long after you were done reading.

amyt
Amy
#1
Flowers for Algernon
#2
House of Leaves
#3
The Lathe of Heaven
Parable of the Sower
The Girl Next Door
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
The Three-Body Problem
Pines
The Sparrow
Tender Is the Flesh
Three
All Tomorrows: A Billion Year Chronicle of the Myriad Species and Mixed Fortunes of Man

Featured Prompt

86 books

#16 in Need some shorter page turners to finish out my 52 book goal!

I'm at 42/52 and I'm trying to really make a push to finish the year! I have a few longer books (18–25 hours audiobook) lined up, so I want some shorter and easier ones to fill out the list. I tend...

#1
All Systems Red
#2
A Psalm for the Wild-Built
#3
Legends & Lattes
This Is How You Lose the Time War
Of Mice and Men
Galatea
Annihilation
Before the Coffee Gets Cold
The Metamorphosis
Every Heart a Doorway
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Binti

Featured Prompt

2,856 books

#285 in What are your favorite books of all time?

When you think back on every book you've ever read, what are some of your favorites? These can be from any time of your life – books that resonated with you as a kid, ones that shaped your personal...

#1
The Lord of the Rings
#2
Dune
#3
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Way of Kings
1984
Mistborn: The Final Empire
Pride and Prejudice
The Martian
The Hobbit
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Project Hail Mary
The Hunger Games