We Have Always Lived in the Castle

By: Shirley Jackson

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Wonderful

The story is truly fabulous and I can't imagine a better reading. Thank you Bernadette!

An Unsettling Story

A good psychological horror story of two sisters living in isolation and fear. The plot slowly unfolds as we find out the circumstances of their lives. There is an aura of impending doom that hangs over the narrative as we listen and untangle this back story. The novel is narrated by Mary Katherine who is paranoid and lives in a fantasy world where she thinks magic can protect her and her sister Constance. This book leaves the listener with a spine-chilling reaction.

Bernadette Dunn's reading is perfect - her voice has an undertone of fear and barely surpressed panic.

Memorizing and darkly capitvating

If you are a fan of Shirley Jackson's work, this novella is a treat that further expands on her Gothic motifs established in other works like The Lottery. The sisters here share a potent secret and to my mind one of the strongest love stories I have ever read that borders on mania and obsession.

Captivating

This story will capture you from the first chapter to the last page. Each scene gives a perfect examples of ordinary wickedness and how actions which seem everyday and ordinary to some might seem monstrous to others. A true insight into the impact unyielded hatred can inflict upon the human spirit.

Not For Me

This author is one of my favorites and I have a lot of respect for her work but this just didn't do it for me.

No consequences

I struggled to finish this recording. The story ultimately felt lacking. Things happened, of course, but no one ever developed, or suffered consequences for their actions. Huge events are given the same observation as a broken glass. I think that's supposed to make it somewhat unnerving, but only came across as lackadaisical and uninterested.

Ghostly

Creep,eloquent and leaves the reader asking many questions! How? Hmm? But...What? A modern beauty from a great writer.

classic and yet surprising

the world building through the imagination of young Mary-Catherine is wonderful. I will most likely read the novel after having listened all the way through.

Has a very "Poe" feel to it

A wonderfully creepy read. Kept me wondering did she, or didn't she? None of them in that house are playing with a full deck. I started to feel very content, shut away in their house as well, so, that when Cousin Charles arrives I, too, felt he was intruding into their space and wanted him to go away. Shirley Jackson weaves you emotionally into the story, like a vine, and you are hardly aware of it. Great story.

I think I enjoyed The Haunting of Hill House better. This isn't a ghost story. The ghosts are.very much the people who live in the house, but, that may make it even creepier.

Terrific narrator -- she also read The Haunting of Hill House, so, hearing her voice gave me a head start on the creepy vibes!

Well written but I hated Merricat

I think the main character, Merricat, is meant to be disliked, and she is written very well to accomplish this feeling. I sometimes found myself extremely frustrated with her behavior- but this speaks to how well Shirley Jackson wrote it because I think she wanted to reader to feel frustrated, heartbroken, and angry. This story has no shortage of awful people in it, and it feels like more of a story about the impacts of when you isolate yourself and how cruel others can be when they fear or don't understand you. Overall, worth the listen. The narration is good- not bad and not great.