We Have Always Lived in the Castle
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Narrated by:
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Bernadette Dunne
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Written by:
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Shirley Jackson
About this listen
Shirley Jackson’s deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family takes readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, macabre humor, and gothic atmosphere.
Six years after four family members died suspiciously of arsenic poisoning, the three remaining Blackwoods—elder, agoraphobic sister Constance; wheelchair-bound Uncle Julian; and eighteen-year-old Mary Katherine, or, Merricat—live together in pleasant isolation. Merricat has developed an idiosyncratic system of rules and protective magic to guard the estate against intrusions from hostile villagers. But one day a stranger arrives—cousin Charles, with his eye on the Blackwood fortune—and manages to penetrate into their carefully shielded lives. Unable to drive him away by either polite or occult means, Merricat adopts more desperate methods, resulting in crisis, tragedy, and the revelation of a terrible secret.
Jackson’s novel emerges less as a study in eccentricity and more—like some of her other fictions—as a powerful critique of the anxious, ruthless processes involved in the maintenance of normalcy itself.
©1962 Shirley Jackson (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.You may also enjoy...
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I really don't get the appeal.
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The Bird's Nest
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Overall0
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Performance0
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Story0
Shirley Jackson's third novel, a chilling descent into multiple personalities Elizabeth is a demure twenty-three-year-old wiling her life away at a dull museum job, living with her neurotic aunt, and subsisting off her dead mother’s inheritance. When Elizabeth begins to suffer terrible...
Written by: Shirley Jackson, and others
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- Narrated by: Grover Gardner, Gabra Zackman
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Overall29
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Performance23
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Story23
NOBEL PRIZE WINNER One of the greatest novels of the twentieth century is the story of a family of Southern aristocrats on the brink of personal and financial ruin. The definitive corrected text, including Faulkner's Appendix One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100...
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Engaging on multiple levels
- By Michael Coulis on 2022-05-27
Written by: William Faulkner, and others
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Tender is the Flesh
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Overall201
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Performance168
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Story168
THE RUNAWAY NATIONAL BESTSELLER AND INTERNATIONAL SENSATION Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore. His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about...
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Wow
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Sadomasochism. Obsession. Death. A whirlpool of darkness churns at the heart of a macabre ballet between two lonely young women in an internet chat room in the early 2000s - a darkness that threatens to forever transform them once they finally succumb to their most horrific desires. What have you done today to deserve your eyes?
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Do not listen to this book
- By Bert on 2021-10-22
Written by: Eric LaRocca
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The Haunting of Hill House
- Written by: Shirley Jackson
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall343
-
Performance306
-
Story305
Four seekers have come to the ugly, abandoned old mansion: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of the psychic phenomenon called haunting; Theodora, his lovely and lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a lonely, homeless girl well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the adventurous future heir of Hill House.
-
-
I really don't get the appeal.
- By Amazon Customer on 2019-06-17
Written by: Shirley Jackson
-
If Beale Street Could Talk
- A Novel
- Written by: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall115
-
Performance102
-
Story104
Told through the eyes of Tish, a 19-year-old girl in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin's story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and is imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions - affection, despair, and hope.
-
-
Masterfully Written
- By Rhonda Sheen on 2019-03-23
Written by: James Baldwin
-
The Bird's Nest
- Written by: Shirley Jackson, Kevin Wilson - introduction
- Narrated by: Linda Jones, Mark Bramhall
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall0
-
Performance0
-
Story0
Shirley Jackson's third novel, a chilling descent into multiple personalities Elizabeth is a demure twenty-three-year-old wiling her life away at a dull museum job, living with her neurotic aunt, and subsisting off her dead mother’s inheritance. When Elizabeth begins to suffer terrible...
Written by: Shirley Jackson, and others
-
The Sound and the Fury
- Written by: William Faulkner, Casey Cep - introduction
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner, Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall29
-
Performance23
-
Story23
NOBEL PRIZE WINNER One of the greatest novels of the twentieth century is the story of a family of Southern aristocrats on the brink of personal and financial ruin. The definitive corrected text, including Faulkner's Appendix One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100...
-
-
Engaging on multiple levels
- By Michael Coulis on 2022-05-27
Written by: William Faulkner, and others
-
Tender is the Flesh
- Written by: Agustina Bazterrica
- Narrated by: Joseph Balderrama
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall201
-
Performance168
-
Story168
THE RUNAWAY NATIONAL BESTSELLER AND INTERNATIONAL SENSATION Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore. His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about...
-
-
Wow
- By Shopaholic Ificiando on 2023-11-22
Written by: Agustina Bazterrica
-
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
- Written by: Eric LaRocca
- Narrated by: Laurie Catherine Winkel
- Length: 2 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall76
-
Performance61
-
Story61
Sadomasochism. Obsession. Death. A whirlpool of darkness churns at the heart of a macabre ballet between two lonely young women in an internet chat room in the early 2000s - a darkness that threatens to forever transform them once they finally succumb to their most horrific desires. What have you done today to deserve your eyes?
-
-
Do not listen to this book
- By Bert on 2021-10-22
Written by: Eric LaRocca
What the critics say
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