We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is perhaps the crowning achievement of Shirley Jackson’s brilliant career: a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the dramatic struggle that ensues when an unexpected visitor interrupts their unusual way of life.

The story follows the lives of the Blackwood family, who live in a grand old house on the outskirts of a small town. When the family is struck by tragedy, the remaining members become reclusive and shun the outside world. As the years go by, the townspeople become increasingly suspicious of the Blackwoods, and the family’s secrets begin to unravel.