review we have always lived in the castle

Then I heard the sound of dishes smashing and at that minute realised that we stood outside the tall windows of the dining room and they were coming very close. I am on the moon, I thought, please let me be on the moon.

Then through the laughter, someone began, “Merricat, said Constance, would you like a cup of tea?” It was rhythmic and insistent. “Listen,” said Charles from somewhere, “will a couple of you guys help me with this safe?” I heard Constance’s harp go over with a musical cry, and a sound which I knew was a chair being smashed against the wall. I saw one of the Dresden figures thrown and break against the porch rail, and the other fell unbroken and rolled along the grass. The crowd on onlookers trash the house and its contents in one of the most horrific scenes of the book.Ībove it all, most horrible, was the laughter. Ultimately a fire is started by his pipe in his bedroom and the upper floors of the house are destroyed. She tries to get rid of Charles by ignoring him, by being rude, by disturbing his belongings. When the book falls down she knows that their lives are going to be disturbed. She has already protected their estate by burying certain items and by nailing a book to a tree. Merricat practices some of her magic to get rid of him. He suggests that Julien should be in a home and Merricat disciplined or something worse. He begins to dominate the household, and to sway Constance. Their routine is interrupted when cousin Charles arrives hoping to find some of the family money. She behaves more like an 8 year old than a person of 18. The trio live in a very restricted and routinised way: days for going to the village, or dusting meals prepared by Constance Merricat not allowed to touch food or to do various things. Now Merricat must go to the village twice a week to collect supplies. The father had sealed off a path and the whole estate. The villagers dislike the Blackwood family. Since her trial Constance is a recluse, and people in the village continue to believe she was the murderer despite the acquittal. It also becomes evident that the truth is known by both sisters, although they do not refer to it until there is a crisis. It is pretty clear from the first page who it was that carried out the murders.

He was damaged in an arsenic attack six years previously which killed the other members of the family: the sisters’ parents and brother, and Julian’s wife. He is old and infirm and requires a wheelchair and does not appear to see Merricat.

Together with Uncle Julien they live in a big house, separate from the village in Vermont. The novel is narrated by Merricat who is 18 and lives with her sister Constance who is somewhat older.

Review we have always lived in the castle