Remember "The Lottery?"

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

This is a novel by Shirley Jackson, who's the woman who wrote that short story "The Lottery" that so many people seem to be assigned to read in school. This book is relatively short; only 146 pages. At the beginning of the novel, we are introduced to the narrator, Mary Katherine (a.k.a Merricat) who is 18 but seems much younger. She lives with her older sister, Constance, her invalid uncle, Julian, and her faithful cat, Jonas. The village people hate Merricat and Constance, and for the most part the pair hide out in their house. The rest of their family was murdered.

Parts of the story were intriguing, and one thing I liked about it was that it was a little vague in what time it was set. There was no fantasy element, yet everything in the story felt a bit fantastical. I also think Jackson did an excellent job with her characters; they felt complex. I enjoyed the book, but it didn't thoroughly grip me. There's was one point where I thought there was going to be a major twist, and then... there wasn't. There were also times when I felt as though something was being built up to, and then whatever it was wasn't as big as I'd expected. I give this book 7 pretzel bites.

KAY