Merricat Blackwood lives on the family estate with her sister Constance and her uncle Julian. Not long ago there were seven Blackwoods—until a fatal dose of arsenic found its way into the sugar bowl one terrible night. Acquitted of the murders, Constance has returned home, where Merricat protects her from the curiosity and hostility of the villagers. Their days pass in happy isolation until Cousin Charles appears. Only Merricat can see the danger, and she must act swiftly to keep Constance from his grasp.
The Sexy Nerd's Review...
Mary Katherine Blackwood a/k/a Merricat lives in the Blackwood mansion with her sister, Constance, and Uncle Julian. The townspeople have come to hate the Blackwoods for their elite status and making their fortune from their misery and misfortune.
Every Tuesday Merricat goes into town to collect her family’s essentials like food and washing supplies. Once she finishes, she stops next door to grab her cup of coffee and prays that while she’s drinking slowly that none of the townspeople come in and harass her. But of course, Merricat couldn’t be that lucky. The children run amuck and behave poorly while she sits there receiving insults from one of Constance’s old beaus. Stella, the waitress, advises Merricat to leave before things really get out of hand.
Merricat’s best friend, besides her sister is Jonas, her cat. She tells her cat everything. The reason the children dislike Merricat is because of her strange habits and making up potions and spells to put on people that get on her nerves. For you see, you can never tell Merricat no. She always gets what she wants. While hanging out in the woods, which is part of their estate, she notes that her father’s notebook is on the ground and everything as she once knew it is falling apart. What is a poor girl to do?
When Cousin Charles comes to visit the Blackwoods’ estate, his presence sets off a chain of events that will change Merricat’s and Constance’s lives forever. Wow! This is a classic that I accidently stumbled upon. I was seeking another spook-tacular read for October and this one popped up on my Bookbub feed. Oh, how delighted I was to come across it. I’ve read a dozen of the classic horror books and I can add this one to that growing list.
Shirley Jackson was an amazing author bringing forth some of the scariest scenarios of our time. I wasn’t even aware that she authored this book. I hadn’t paid much attention to the author’s name and then it hit me who she was. What an incredible and fun read this was.
If you’re like me and love to read horror books and all things creepy crawly and things going bump-in-the-night, you must read this. I was happy to discover that the movie adaptation came out in 2018, so quite naturally after I finished reading, I went and streamed it on Peacock. Hollywood did a decent job with the story. Of course, there was plenty of detail left out, but I knew exactly where it was to go and how it arrived at the last version of the film. It was pretty darn good.
Overall, the Sexy Nerd gives We Have Always Lived in the Castle five additional guests to inhabit the Blackwoods’ space. This was a short read and so fun to gobble up the pages and kick off my spook-tacular reads. This is my favorite month, not only because of my favorite holiday, but I’m also born in this month, so it makes it that much better. Until next time, Nerds, you know what to do!
No comments:
Post a Comment