Gothic Literature Book Reviews

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, first published in the USA by Viking Press in 1962. This is a short novel/novella about mental illness, social pressures and isolation. Mary Katherine Blackwood, known as Merricat, lives in the family's large house in an unnamed New England town, with her elder sister, Constance, and her invalid uncle. Six years previously, her mother, father, brother and an aunt died from arsenic poisoning. The arsenic was in the sugar bowl. Constance was arrested, but acquitted. The townsfolk, however, believe she was guilty and only got off because the family were rich and influential. Since the trial, Constance has not ventured from the house and its garden, devoting her life to looking after Merricat and her uncle and spending most of the time cooking. The story is told from the viewpoint of Merricat, who was twelve when the murders occurred. She was not at the table as she had been sent to her room for misbehaviour. She is now eighteen, ...

The Cloisters by Katy Hays, first published in 2022 by Bantam. This book has all the ingredients to make a fantastic Gothic novel, yet somehow it just doesn't come together.  It is set, mainly, in the Cloisters museum in New York, complete with its poison garden, and the setting is wonderfully described. The weather is smouldering, with occasional thunderstorms. There is dangerous rivalry, obsession, mental imbalance, hints of the supernatural, tarot cards and murder. Ann, the main protagonist, arrives in New York from Walla Walla in Washington State to take up a summer residency at the Metropolitan museum. There is a problem, and she is seconded to the Cloisters. There she meets Patrick, the curator and his assistant, the rich and talented Rachel. Patrick is having an affair with Rachel and  initially he appears to be an interesting character, but his character is not developed. This is partly because the story is told through Ann's eyes, and she is only interested in his aca...

The Aspern Papers by Henry James, first published in 1888 in the Atlantic Monthly. This is an unsettling novella. There are no murders or supernatural events, but the reader is left with the feeling that there could be.  There are three main characters, or four if you count Venice, where the story is set. The city, with its winding canals, palatial houses, gondolas and squares, adds a brooding presence, despite the sunshine and gaiety.  Windows looking out over canals seem to be watching. The narrator is an unnamed American who has come to Venice to search for private papers and letters written by the now dead American poet Jeffrey Aspern. The narrator holds Aspern almost as a god, comparing his poetry to that of Shakespeare, and is obsessed with obtaining the hitherto unseen papers. These papers belong to Juliana Bordereau, a lover of Aspern in her youth. She is now a very old lady, seemingly over a hundred years old. She lives in a dilapidated, palatial mansion in Venice ...

                                           The Unburied  by Charles Palliser, first published in 1999 by Phoenix House (Orion Publishing Group) Although The Unburied is shorter and does not have the same edge as The Quincunx, it is well worth reading if you enjoy traditional Gothic with mystery and complexity. There are three stories running though the book, all set in Thurchester, a cathedral town. The main story is set around Christmas, 1881. Dr Edward Courtine, a university academic, arrives in the town at the request of an old friend, a teacher in Thurchester, whom he hasn't seen for over twenty years. He is naturally suspicious of an invitation after so long, but he has his own reason for travelling to Thurchester. Christmas is usually a time of good cheer, but almost immediately Courtine hears of a murder in the cathedral in the seventeenth century, so far unexplained...

Mexican Gothic by Silva Moreno-Garcia, first published in 2020 by Jo Fletcher Books. This is a traditional Gothic book, with a large twist of Mexican history and culture. It is set in the 1950s and the main character, Noemí is a fun-loving girl. She likes to party, but she also has a good brain in her head and is studying anthropology. The story begins when she is called, prematurely, from a fancy dress party in Mexico City by her father. He has received a disturbing letter from his niece, Catalina, who believes her new husband is trying to poison her. He wants Noemí to investigate, so she sets off to High Place, a remote English-style mansion on a hill, near a small village. The family there are not happy to see her, telling her Catalina is ill, but the family doctor is treating her.  Catalina's husband,Virgil, fits the mould of a Gothic villain; his cousin, Florence, could put the strictest Mother Superior to shame; and Virgil's repulsive father, Howard, is evil incarnate. Th...

First published in 1807 by Longman, Hurst, Rees and Orme, under the pseudonym Dennis Jasper Murphy. Charles Maturin was an Anglo-Irish clergyman, but this didn't prevent him from taking Gothic writing seriously. His books reveal a dark, sometimes tortured imagination. Perhaps his best known novel is Melmoth the Wanderer (1820), but here we will examine Fatal Revenge. The book was written when Maturin was a relatively young man, in his mid twenties, and doesn't have the same maturity as Melmoth, but the story is more straight forward.  The action takes place, mainly, around Naples in the latter part of the seventeenth century and tells the story of the Montorios, a family with more than their fair share of dark secrets. The main characters are the brothers, Ippolito and Annibal di Montorio. Ippolito, the elder brother, lives in his own residence in Naples. His younger brother lives with his father and younger siblings in the castle of Muralto. The brothers are different in natu...