What can I say? I’ve been somewhat enthralled with Shirley Jackson this year and I have no reasons why! Perhaps I’ve just really been in the mood for some spooky stuff. It’s been a while, but I did watch the film adaptation of We Have Always Lived in the Castle that starred Taissa Farmiga, Alexandra Daddario, Sebastian Stan, and Crispin Glover last year. It was a really interesting film, so I’ve been eager to compare how it stacked up against its source material.
The short answer is: really well! Which I am glad for. I feel like filmmakers know they can’t mess up a Shirley Jackson adaptation or they will get ripped apart. Her worked has only gotten more popular and acclaimed as time has worn on, and it’s probably almost like a badge of honor to get to take her novels and turn them into films or miniseries.
The book focuses on the Blackwood family, or more accurately, what’s left of the Blackwood family. That includes sisters Merricat and Constance, and their Uncle Julian. Right from the jump it is clear that Merricat and Constance have a fiercely close bond, but Merricat’s almost seems to the point of obsession? I feel like she maybe also has a touch of mental illness. Either way, the town thoroughly dislikes the family, but Merricat makes herself a bit of a target when she goes to town. She hates going, but she’s the only one who can. To ensure and her family’s safety, she has an abundance of relics buried all over her family’s property, and Merricat checks on these regularly.
Not too far into the novel you learn why the Blackwood family only consists of the two sisters and their uncle. Six years prior, almost everyone else was poisoned with arsenic in the sugar that was to go on some berries. Merricat was in her room and Constance took no sugar because she doesn’t like berries. This coincidence automatically made her a suspect. The only suspect really, but she was soon found “not guilty.” This is the main reason why Constance doesn’t go beyond the garden of the house, and why Uncle Julian is ill and wheelchair-bound.
One day Merricat comes across a book she had nailed to a tree had fallen down and she knew this was a bad omen. Sure enough, when she got back to the house she discovers a distant cousin has moved in and it trying to woo Constance. His real intentions are to access the fortune in the family safe. Merricat detests him and tries her hardest to get him to leave, only so he’ll leave Constance alone.
I won’t spoil the ending, but things come to a head and eventually the title of the book really makes sense. Overall, I really enjoyed this read. I felt like I could really get a feel for Merricat, as she was the narrator of the story, but her eccentricities were apparent, which I found amusing. This was certainly nowhere near the creepy factor that The Haunting at Hill House was, but it was still very gothic in nature. Add it to your read list!