We Have Always Lived in the Castle
North American first edition cover
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| Author | Shirley Jackson |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
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Publication date
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1962 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages | 214 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 285311 |
We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a 1962 mystery novel by American author Shirley Jackson. The novel is the final work of Jackson, and was published three years prior to Jackson's death in 1965. It was dedicated to publisher Pascal Covici. The novel is written in the voice of eighteen-year-old Mary Katherine "Merricat" Blackwood, who lives with her sister and uncle on an estate in Vermont. The Blackwood family, six years before the events of the novel, experienced a family tragedy that resulted in the three living isolated from others in their small village.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle was first published in hardcover in North America by Viking Press, and has since been released in paperback and as an audiobook and e-book. The book is widely considered Jackson's masterpiece. It will see its first screen adaptation in 2017, directed by Stacie Passon and written by Mark Kruger.
Merricat Blackwood, her elder sister Constance, and their ailing Uncle Julian live in a large house on large grounds, in isolation from the nearby village. Constance has not left their home in six years, going no farther than her large garden. Uncle Julian, confined to a wheelchair, obsessively writes and re-writes notes for his memoirs, while Constance cares for him.
Through Uncle Julian's ramblings, the events of the past are revealed, including what happened to the remainder of the Blackwood family: six years ago both the Blackwood parents (John and Ellen), an aunt (Julian's wife Dorothy), and a younger brother (Thomas) were murdered – poisoned with arsenic, which was mixed into the family's sugar bowl and sprinkled onto blackberries at dinner. Julian, though poisoned, had survived; Constance, who did not put sugar on her berries, was arrested for, and eventually acquitted of, the crime. Merricat was not at dinner, having been sent to bed without dinner as punishment. The people of the village believe that Constance had gotten away with murder and the family is ostracized. The three remaining Blackwoods had grown accustomed to their isolation, and lead a quiet, happy existence. Merricat is the family's sole contact with the outside world, walking into the village twice a week and carrying home groceries and library books, where she is faced directly with the hostility of the villagers and often followed by groups of children, who taunt her. They are quite harsh and rude, and it is made obvious that Merricat knows that her family is hated by the townsfolk.
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