We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

I had read so many good things about this book, bloggers raved about it and reviews said it was the best book they read again and again.  I eagerly started reading, but soon was wondering if I had downloaded the correct book.

This is an odd story.  It is the tale of two sister, the younger who indulges in flights of whimsy and is unable to connect with her neighbours and whose older sister never goes beyond the gardens in their yard.  The entire story was stilted, and never seemed to settle into it's telling.  Perhaps it was the wording that was often awkward with some passages required several readings to make sense of them.

I didn't enjoy this book but kept reading with the hope that it would improve, but it didn't.  I had had this book on my reading list for quite a while, and moved it to the top when  a favoured character in a recent read proclaimed this was her most favourite book ever.  I figured there must be something I was missing if that author loved it so very much.

If you choose to read We Have Always Lived in the Castle, do so with a friend and discuss it along the way.  It might help to make sense of some of the happenings.

For those who finished the tale, does it never rain in their village?

Learn more about the author Shirley Jackson at this link.

Cover image courtesy Penguin Random House Canada. 

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