We Have Always Lived in the Castle cover art

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free + £10 Audible voucher

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 5 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
More purchase options

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

By: Shirley Jackson
Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
Get this deal

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends on 5 July 2026 at 11:59 BST. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £3.99

Buy Now for £3.99

Shirley Jackson’s deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family takes readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, macabre humor, and gothic atmosphere.

Six years after four family members died suspiciously of arsenic poisoning, the three remaining Blackwoods—elder, agoraphobic sister Constance; wheelchair-bound Uncle Julian; and eighteen-year-old Mary Katherine, or, Merricat—live together in pleasant isolation. Merricat has developed an idiosyncratic system of rules and protective magic to guard the estate against intrusions from hostile villagers. But one day a stranger arrives—cousin Charles, with his eye on the Blackwood fortune—and manages to penetrate into their carefully shielded lives. Unable to drive him away by either polite or occult means, Merricat adopts more desperate methods, resulting in crisis, tragedy, and the revelation of a terrible secret.

Jackson’s novel emerges less as a study in eccentricity and more—like some of her other fictions—as a powerful critique of the anxious, ruthless processes involved in the maintenance of normalcy itself.

©1962 Shirley Jackson (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Genre Fiction Gothic Horror Literary Fiction Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Scary Fiction Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Mind-bending Cats
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic reviews

“At certain moments, quietly, in quick, subtle transitions of tone, Miss Jackson can summon up stark terror, make your blood chill and your scalp prickle....To all the classic paraphernalia of the spook story, she adds a touch of Freud….” ( New York Times Book Review)
All stars
Most relevant
Why do the villagers hate the Blackwoods? Why does Constance never go out? Why was the sugarbowl washed out? This is a story full of mystery and you can never be sure what is real or imagined. Is Merrycat alive? How old are the sisters? What is Charles really up to?
I will need to read this again just to try and get a handle on the story but I suspect I will just encounter more mystery.
This is a stunning piece of American Gothic and has been perfectly narrated by Bernadette Dunne.
This is for lovers of magical writing that gives us more questions than answers and takes you into a world you will not forget.

An oppressive dream - or is it real?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What a wonderful and intriguing read this is. So dark and from the full throated American Gothic tradition, this is spooky and puzzling in equal measure. It's a bit like seeing the world from Boo Radley's PoV, if he were a strange little girl. You're never sure what's real and what isn't, and the imagery within is both domestic yet utterly surreal. Love it.

Strange but utterly mesmerising

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Although I felt like the plot was a bit bland and could have gone a lot of places but never quite did, the writing itself is beautiful. Worth the listen just for the lovely prose.

Beautiful writing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed this. She gets inside the head of the main characters and I love the darkness. Vivid descriptions bring it all to life. Some interesting twists too.

Dark. Interesting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An eerily lovely book from the perspective of a young girl who only longs for life to continue as it does. She hopes to safeguard herself and her denuded family within the grounds of their old house with ritual acts and longworn habit.
Perfectly narrated, full of dread and charm.

Southern gentility with a spoonful of strangeness

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews