Review of “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” by Shirley Jackson
After I finished reading “The Haunting of Hill House”, I decided to read “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” by Shirley Jackson. The short story “The Lottery” by Jackson, is one of my favorite short stories, so I was excited to read more of her work. However, I didn't love “The Haunting of Hill House” and it saddens me to say I didn't like “We Have Always Lived in the Castle”. While the novel is fairly short, I think it is too long for this story. It's an interesting family drama, that I believe would be better if it was a short story.
The book centers around the Blackwood family, who live in an old house just outside of the main town. The main character is Mary Katherine and she lives with her sister Constance and her sick uncle Julian. Six years ago, their family suffered a tragedy that resulted in the death of the sisters’ parents, brother and Julian's wife. Constance was accused and charged with arsenic poisoning but acquitted. The poisoning left Uncle Julian in a wheelchair with dementia. Most of the towns people shun the Blackwood family, except Helen Clark who regularly visits the girls for afternoon tea. Their cousin Charles comes to visit and creates tension with Mary Katherine and Uncle Julian. An accidental fire burns most of the house's interior and roof. During the fire, villagers came by and wanted the house to burn down. In the aftermath people further destroyed the house and taunted the girls. Charles abandons them and Uncle Julian dies. The girls lock themselves in the house and do not speak to anyone, not even Helen Clark. It is revealed that Mary Katherine was the one that poisoned the family. Constance has great guilt about how she dealt with Uncle Julian and Mary Katherine but continues to live in the burnt house accepting random gifts from people who believe the women to be cursed.
The novel starts off with Mary Katherine running errands in
the town, but the rest of the novel takes place completely at the Blackwood
house and land. This setting adds a claustrophobic atmosphere to the story. The
story deals with themes such as isolation, ostracism, and the bond between
sisters. Constance suffers from agoraphobia and only goes outside to tend to her
garden. She takes great care of her little sister and uncle. Even though Mary
Katherine is about eighteen years old, she acts and is treated like a child.
She considers it a great responsibility to be able to travel into town for
supplies. Mary Katherine also talks to her cat companion Jonas and likes to
bury things like a child would. Even though it's not revealed until the end,
the reader can piece out that Mary Katherine might have been involved in the
arsenic poisoning. Constance takes all the blame for the incident and protects
Mary Katherine even though she knows that her sister is the one who poisoned
the family. We never truly find out why Mary Katherine put the arsenic in the
sugar bowl but considering her strange behavior we can assume that she clearly
has some mental health issues that her family has shielded her from.
Mary Katherine's odd behavior become a point of contention between cousin Charles and Constance. Charles believes Mary Katherine needs to behave and act like an adult and that Uncle Julian should be in a nursing home. Throughout the book Mary Katherine refers to Charles as a ghost or demon. Charles true motivations for helping Constance is all about money. He yells at Mary Katherine for burying coins in the yard and is constantly asking for them to open the safe. While Charles does come across as a money greedy guy, he does seem to express some concern and condolences for the girls at the end of the book.
The most compassionate person towards the Blackwood family is Helen Clark. A decent woman who just wants the best for Constance and the family, unfortunately we don't get enough of this character to really understand her motivations and true feelings about the Blackwood’s. It could have been interesting to have her show up more and give her opinions on cousin Charles. Like Mary Katherine, Uncle Julian also does not trust Charles, and in a way it is Charles' fault that he died. While an interesting character, Uncle Julian is mostly shown as a burden to the family due to his health condition. It's never fully explained what he suffers from, but it seems to be related to the poisoning. Uncle Julian believes Constance to be completely innocent, but also thinks that Mary Katherine died. So, it's not clear if he ever suspected that Mary Katherine is responsible for the poisoning of the family.
As I said earlier, this novel has a decent narrative and
story revolving around the Blackwood family and the mystery of the poisoning
event. However, I still think that it would have benefited by being a long
short story, rather than a novel. There are long parts in this book where not
much happens and the pacing slows down. The book is meant to be a slow family
drama that focuses on the psychology of the Blackwood family and towns people
after the poisoning.
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