Don’t be afraid, everything will be fine – review of the book “We Have Always Lived in a Castle”

A plot in the style of Jackson

The Merricat Blackwood family was once lucky … supposedly. Currently, together with his sister Constance and uncle Julian, he lives in the family estate – the Blackwood estate, isolating himself from the outside world. Until recently, the family had seven members, but one night a lethal dose of arsenic was delivered to the sugar bowl … Constance, initially suspected of murder, was acquitted and returned home. The local community, however, does not forget so quickly. Protecting her sister from the aggressiveness, hostility and brutality of her neighbors keeps Merricat awake at night. Things get complicated when cousin Charles arrives at the Blackwood estate.

An asylum that is impossible to survive

Being cut off from the outside world temporarily relieved family members of their fears of losing their safety. The return of the prodigal relative disrupts the order so meticulously worked out by the sisters and uncle. The reader cannot like Charles because he is tailored to fit the negative hero. So which of the characters can we feel? I guess it all depends on perspective. Jackson likes to focus on selected characters, and we get to know them much better than others. Merricat Blackwood is just such a heroine – we observe her, learn about her motivations, and already know if we will be able to like her. The world created by Jackson is colorful; a reader who gives a novel a chance will probably not be disappointed, especially if he is directly fond of dark stories.

Unique style

The proposals of the Replika Publishing House have always surprised me positively and it was the same this time. The series, consisting of three books – The Haunting House on the Hill , The Lottery and We’ve Always Lived in the Castle – fascinates and opens the reader to the Shirley Jackson universe. The novel is not characterized by a fast pace, mega-dark atmosphere and authoritative meticulousness, but an original, imaginative plot, an interesting quasi-psychological perspective and, to a small extent, an open ending.