There's something rotten in the Mexican countryside.
Published: 2020
Genre: Gothic Horror, Historical Fantasy
CW: Racism, Eugenics, Gaslighting, Body Horror, Violence, Sexism, Incest, Murder, Sexual Harassment/Assault, Infanticide, Cannibalism, Improper Seizure Care
★★★✬☆ (3.5/5)
Noemí Taboada's life of partying is interrupted after receiving a strange and frantic letter from her newlywed cousin Catalina. At her father's behest, Noemí leaves Mexico City and sets off for High Place, home of Catalina's English in-laws, the Doyles. There, she discovers a sordid family history filled with violence, madness, and mushrooms. So many mushrooms.
If there is one thing to know about me it's that I love gothic literature. I'm a sucker for any story that involves a creepy house with a dark secret and a brave but vulnerable woman daring to uncover the mysteries hidden within. Mexican Gothic has been on my to-read list for a while now, and I was excited to see how Silvia Moreno-Garcia would take a genre that has mainly been dominated by white Europeans and put her own spin on it. From the synopsis, I was expecting a Mexican twist on Daphne du Maurier; what I got felt more Guillermo del Toro. Which is mostly a compliment. However, as someone who is a fan of del Toro's work but recognizes the flaws in many of his films, I have to say that felt much the same way about Moreno-Garcia's novel.
For the first 80 pages, the pacing felt rather rushed, which really kept me from feeling engaged. It felt like Moreno-Garcia was just itching to get to High Place, when I felt that it would have been more effective to have a chapter or two establishing Noemí's life in Mexico City. We get to hear about it when Noemí reflects on how different she has to act at High Place, but it would have been more effective a contrast if we had gotten to actually see for ourselves. There is also a bit of a lackluster romance between Noemí and Francis, the youngest member of the Doyle family. I enjoyed both of them as characters, but aside from the trauma they share at the end of the novel, I never saw any reason for them to be together romantically, especially since Noemí spends so much of the book saying that Francis is nice, but she isn't attracted to him.
My main criticism may come across as a bit ignorant, as I will admit that I'm just a dumb white lady, but I had been hoping that a supposed ghost story set in Mexico would focus more on Mexican superstitions, since I've been told that many Hispanic cultures have at least some belief in the supernatural. Thus, I was rather disappointed when Noemí reveals she doesn't really believe in those sort of things. We do get references to the concept of mal de aire (bad air) and a village woman does provide Noemí an evil eye bracelet, but in the case of the latter, it doesn't really do much. I just thought it would have been interesting to have a gothic heroine that already has some belief in the supernatural when she arrives at the manor, and that her cultural beliefs provide her with some form of protection.
Despite my criticisms, I do have have to applaud Moreno-Garcia for using the gothic's European roots as a metaphor for colonialism. High Place and the Doyles themselves are associated with rot and poison. They pride themselves on being resistant, yet their refusal to adapt to the culture that surrounds them brings nothing but an endless cycle of death and violence. Part of the reason Noemí and Francis are able to come up with a way to escape High Place is because the family patriarch, who listens in on every conversation in the house, never bothered to learn Spanish despite living in Mexico for several decades. The Doyles are, fittingly, just like their family crest: the ouroboros. Forever eating their own tail.
And even though the book technically delves more into eldritch horror than traditional gothic horror, I still got most of what I was hoping for out of this book. I got conversations in cemeteries. Grand manors falling apart. Family secrets. Heroines rushing around in nightgowns and mildewed wedding dressing. Even a climax set in a goddamn mausoleum. It's clear that Moreno-Garcia loves the gothic as a genre, and really, that's all you need for a good, spooky read.
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