We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Shirley Jackson was an American writer, dismissed by many in the literary establishment during her life, but now recognised as a master crafter of short stories as well as works in gothic horror. She wrote one of the stories I remember most from school, 'The Lottery', as well as The Haunting of Hill House which has been adapted both for film and television. 

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is widely considered Jackson's finest work. Merricat, the 18 year old lynchpin of the novel, may or may not have murdered her entire family (with the exception of her elder sister) six years ago. The lives of she and her sister, Constance, are disrupted by the arrival of a cousin, and the whole of the family history begins to unravel. It's spooky, it's mysterious, it's completely gripping.