  Easily digested at one sitting, 2004-07-11
The story is written in very simple format, unravelling like a favorite and somewhat familiar mystery, and though largely predictable, the slim tome sticks to your hands by some supernatural force, and doesn't release you until the last page is turned and the last word read.Mary Katherine Blackwood, known as Merricat, the main character, lives with her reclusive sister Constance and their Uncle Julian, the surviving members of a large family that came to a sad end through the consumption of arsenic laced sugar. The intriguing Merricat tells the story, regaling the reader with her rituals, talismans and magic, but these alone are not enough to counteract the interloper, who threatens her familiar lifestyle, and tries to destroy the strong family unit. The conclusion was not quite was I was expecting, being of macabre humor and vivid imagination, but was fitting and satisfying. A haunting but not chilling read. ^AR
Haunting and chilling, 2008-01-18
The Dark Fantasy's front cover is nowhere near as exciting as the Penguin one. Front covers are very important to me as they are what attract you to stories and are something to refer back to during the novel as I often feel they reveal something about the plot or characters. If you are into your cover art go for the Penguin version rather than the Dark Fantasy one.
Right, the plot. Four members of the Blackwood family died eating a poisoned meal. For six years the survivors lived in their great house, fencing out the villagers who hated and feared them. Then Cousin Charles came to visit and it all changes. We are invited into the Blackwood world by Mary Katherine Blackwood (Merricat) who is now 18 and lives with her sister Constance. Merricat is really a likeable and interesting character, more so for me than Constance. Cousin Charles is a dreadful character, mean and nasty to Merricat and only after what he can get - the family money.
From the back cover of the Dark Fantasy version the reader is asked which world is richer in sympathy, love and subtlety - the house in habited by a lunatic, a poisoner and a pyromaniac, or the real world outside. In this short novel you will find yourself addressing this very question.
An enjoyable read that is very well written. Easy enough to read in one sitting and an author I will go on to investigate further.
Delicious, 2007-11-06
For some reason, it has taken me years and years to get round to reading this book, and I wish that I had read it sooner, as it is excellent. Easily digestible in one sitting, it repays the time spent with a dark and tender fairy-tale, with a happy ending that is also heart-breaking.
I came to this book via Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and The Haunting of Hill House, and a wider interest in the horror genre, but there is lots to recommend We Have Always Lived In The Castle to those with no interest in horror whatsoever.
(The book seems to be a distant and genteel ancestor of Ian Banks' The Wasp Factory, although the tone of the two tales could hardly be more different.)
An intense read and creepy tale, 2008-08-13
A creepy tale of a big house where the two Blackwood sisters, Constance and Merricat, live with their old uncle. The local villagers treat them with suspicion and hate, after six of the Blackwood family died one night from poisoning. Constance was tried and found innocent. The sisters and Uncle Julian try to live quietly in their mausoleum; Constance tends the garden, Uncle Julian sees to his papers, and the beloved Merricat patrols and protects the estate with ritual and amulets. However, one day cousin Charles arrives - and life will never be the same after that.
This short novel is an excellent exercise in paranoia, the whole 'did she didn't she' questio over the poisoning, the villagers' suspicion (and jealousy, for the Blackwoods are not short of a penny, although they don't flaunt it at all), and then the catalyst that arrives to upset everything.
A very intense read and beautifully crafted tale.
Great Gothic Read, 2007-11-01
This is a satisfyingly macabre and sinister book. The family that live in the castle are supposedly a murderous bunch, and are definitely not your average neighbours. Mary Katherine Blackwood lives in an isolated house with her sister and their Uncle. The rest of their family died after being fed sugar laced with arsenic. It's Mary Katherine who tells their tale and the reader will soon be entranced by what she has to say, particularly in the events that follow the unwelcome stay of a cousin. A fantastic gothic read, full of humour and a little sadness too. I'll definitely be reading more by this author.
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