We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Shirley Jackson


“In this village the men stayed young and did the gossiping and the women aged with grey evil weariness and stood silently waiting for the men to get up and come home.”

I read the last 34 pages of this book individually as they fell loose from the spine. It seemed perfectly fitting, considering the state of the castle. But I should tell you, the castle is only a house: with a harp in the mother’s old sitting room, Uncle Julian in his wheelchair in the garden, and a creek for Mary Katherine to run to. It’s a beautiful house, but one that the villagers both covet and fear. Although, I think people feel that way about Shirley Jackson too.