Once there in the village, it becomes apparent that Merricat is particularly reviled, and is the source of some bullying from the townsfolk as well as some taunting. In that first chapter, we are introduced to 18-year-old Mary Kathleen “Merricat” Blackwood, on her way from a secluded old mansion that she lives in with her elder sister, Constance, and uncle, Julian, to buy some groceries in a nearby village. It is a semi-autobiographical tale, and the first chapter of the book bears this out. While billed as a bit of a mystery novel, this is really a work of literary fiction - a book that burrows deeper and deeper into the concept of what makes isolation as it goes along, and is richly marvelous, though also a summer’s breeze of a read (despite Jackson’s insistent use of semi-colons). This is a short book for complete misanthropes, or those who are constantly paranoid and looking over their shoulders. To those who are enjoying the season of self-isolation in the age of COVID-19, may I recommend a novel for you? I would implore you to read Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, her final novel published in 1962 before she died at the all too tragic young age of 48. “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” Book Cover
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