We Have Always Lived in the Castle. You should, too.

A pitfall of the typical mystery novel: all story, no characterization. The pages turn, the plot thickens, the murder is solved! But the characters fall to the side—flat, two-dimensional, crime-solving machines.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle. A Media Matters @ WFHS Post.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle does no such thing.

Shirley Jackson allows a unique insight into the mind of her narrator, the eccentric, skittish, wonderfully enigmatic Mary Katherine Blackwood (Merricat for short). No holds barred, she delves deep in to the subconscious of her character’s brain and in the process exposes a raw, delightfully truthful window into the disturbed human psyche.

But don’t worry—Jackson does not leave the story lacking. We Have Always Lived in the Castle is not a typical mystery. There is no cut-and-dry murder to be solved or twist to be found or criminal to jail. Everything is much muddier and the reader is taken through the murky water to discover the full truth of the mysterious Blackwood family and their strangely empty house.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle. A Media Matters @ WFHS Post.

In fact, the crime and its perpetrator is revealed upfront: the Blackwood home—once lively, boasting two families and a large dinner table to support—has but three inhabitants (four, if you count the lovely and expressive cat, Jonas). All the others were murdered. By one unassuming family member.

Personally, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is right up my alley (my dark, creepy alley). It is somewhat quirky (but in the best way) and contains a very different kind of spookiness. Shirley’s subtle prose sneaks up on you in an entirely unique way – quite disturbing passages (though, trust me, nothing too off-putting) are read as casually as a description of a park in the summer.

It’s almost Halloween, too, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle is guaranteed to inspire the right mood.