Shirley Jackson is slowly becoming one of my favorite authors. I loved 'The Haunting of Hill House' and have read quite a few of her short stories, and bought 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' despite the slightly uninteresting blurb. This is widely regarded as her masterpiece and is the last novel she wrote. I thought it was brilliant; a clever, memorable and honestly faultless piece of dark fiction. Very manipulative too; instilling reader sympathy with the two sisters despite their sinister past is quite an achievement. Merricat is a fascinating narrator: funny, sadistic, strange, unreliable, she is oddly likeable. Uncle Julian is interesting, as is the house itself. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys subtle horror, witchcraft, and an all-pervading sense that something is very 'off'.