We Have Always Lived in the Castle
by Shirley Jackson

We Have Always Lived in the Castle: Genre 1 key example

Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis:

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a mystery novel that also borrows heavily from the conventions of gothic literature. At the center of the novel is the mystery of who murdered the mother, father, aunt, and younger brother of the Blackwood sisters six years prior by putting arsenic in their sugar. Most people in the local village believe that Constance is responsible, as she purchased the arsenic and prepared the family’s final meal, though she denies this accusation and was acquitted at trial.