--- description: Find out why 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' by Shirley Jackson made the list. title: We Have Always Lived in the Castle: The 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2047e9e611da58f/698a408016d88414f6c3c3dc/WeHaveAlwaysLivedInTheCastle.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 03, 2023 # We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  That the Blackwood family is (mostly) dead is established in the first paragraph of _We Have Always Lived in the Castle_. How that happened is the mystery at the center of a novel that finds plenty to fear—not only in the possibility of murder, but also in the way the Blackwoods’ gossiping neighbors react to the surviving sisters, Mary Katherine and Constance. TIME named _Castle_ one of the top 10 works of fiction in 1962, praising it for “the ironic miracle of convincing the reader that a house inhabited by a lunatic, a poisoner, and a pyromaniac is a world more rich in sympathy, love, and subtlety than the real world outside.” Thanks to “The Lottery” and _The Haunting of Hill House_, [Shirley Jackson’s](https://time.com/4595609/shirley-jackson-100-reviews/ "undefined") genius was already recognized by the time this concise tale—narrated in the distinctive, eerie voice of “Merricat”—confirmed her particular talent for sprinkling a dose of the gothic occult on top of what lurks inside ordinary hearts. For its portrait of the latter, _We Have Always Lived in the Castle_ is an enduring classic that transcends its genre. —_Lily Rothman_ --- ### More from TIME --- **Buy Now:** _We Have Always Lived in the Castle_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780143039976 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3LDAiz9 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309181/we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309181/we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle/"},"headline":"We Have Always Lived in the Castle: Mystery and Thriller Books","datePublished":"2023-10-03T11:56:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:20:58.979Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309181/we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle/","keywords":["Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2047e9e611da58f/698a408016d88414f6c3c3dc/WeHaveAlwaysLivedInTheCastle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2047e9e611da58f/698a408016d88414f6c3c3dc/WeHaveAlwaysLivedInTheCastle.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309181/we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle/","name":"We Have Always Lived in the Castle: Mystery and Thriller Books"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How We Chose the 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time","description":"Here's how TIME created its 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books list. There are books from 15 different countries, and no author appears on the list more than once.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bNzuDcsg/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-10-02T16:54:39.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bNzuDcsg.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309181/we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle/","duration":"PT1M35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309181/we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```