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Cover of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

  • 187 pages ยท about 3 hours
  • First published 1962
  • 39 editions

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1 About this book

Shirley Jackson's beloved gothic tale of a peculiar girl named Merricat and her family's dark secret.

Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate. This edition features a new introduction by Jonathan Lethem.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Good for readers who want: a mystery and gothic fiction.

  • Mystery
  • Psychological fiction
  • Murder
  • First-person narrative
  • Gothic fiction
  • Sisters
  • Investigation
  • Social isolation

2 About Shirley Jackson

1916โ€“1965

Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 โ€“ August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Her writing career spanned over two decades, during which she composed six novels, two memoirs, and more than 200 short stories.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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