Mexican Gothic Book Review

Silvia Moreno-Garica's Mexican Gothic is certainly a masterpiece in so many ways. With such a powerful control of language, Moreno-Garcia crafts a novel that is both terrifying in a fantastical and realistic sense. By twisting some of gothic horror's most recognized tropes into something completely new, Mexican Gothic is both a tribute and a play on the genre, making it a fun introduction into horror.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed speculative novels Gods of Jade and Shadow, Signal to Noise, Certain Dark Things, and The Beautiful Ones; and the crime novel Untamed Shore. She has edited several anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award-Winning She Walks in Shadows (aka Ctulhu's Daughters). She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. You can find her at silviamoreno-garcia.com, on Facebook, or on Twitter @silviamg. 

From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes a reimagining of the classic gothic horror novel, a story about an isolated mansion in 1950s Mexico—and the brave socialite drawn to its treacherous secrets. After receiving a frantic letter from her newlywed cousin, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. Noemí is an unlikely rescuer: She's a glamorous debutante, more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she's also tough, smart, and not afraid: not of her cousin's new English husband, a stranger who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemí's dreams with visions of blood and doom. Noemí's only ally in this inhospitable place is the family's youngest son. But he too may be hiding a dark secret. As Noemí begins to unearth stories of violence and madness, she is slowly drawn into a terrifying yet seductive world—a world that may be impossible to escape. 

What I found so wonderful about this book first and foremost was the precision of Moreno-Garcia's writing. What makes this novel so horrifying, and such a great commentary on so many things (which I will discuss a bit further below) is the way the writing is so clear and concise. Noemí's story and narration is also compelling, because of how detailed and precise the descriptions are. It doesn't feel like Noemí could be unreliable, or that this story couldn't be true, because of how precise and sharp the language is. Mexican Gothic is the kind of book you read and you wish you were the one who wrote it, because the control of language is so powerful. 

This is actually the first book of horror I've read, but I appreciated and recognized a lot of the plays on Gothic literature. This book reminded me a lot of Northanger Abbey and The Haunting of Hill House, and its dark, shadowy aesthetic reminded me of Jane Eyre. The way Moreno-Garcia uses the tropes one is familiar with and twists them into something slightly more disturbing in order to create commentary is one of the reasons this book is so powerful. We recognize a lot of the elements, because of classic literature and such, but they are used in a way that's heightened or changed from what we expect, in order to make the novel something unexpected.

I recently read The Haunting of Hill House and that novel is startling in so many ways. And Mexican Gothic is similarly startling, starting with the use of such a creepy house and being the haunted thing. Noemí suspects that there's something in the house driving Catalina mad, and affecting her dreams, and she just has no idea how right she is. I find it absolutely terrifying that one could lose their entire agency just based on the structure that they're in—and within that, there is so much to unpack and realize about our society—and that's why I think stories such as Mexican Gothic, The Haunting of Hill House, and The Fall of the House of Usher are so terrifying and effective.

I mentioned earlier that because of the precision of language, the novel is able to provide commentary on so many things, and I do believe that to be true. The lack of agency that can occur based on where one's body is physically, the patriarchal society, the treatment of miners in Mexico, the married-life dynamic, and so much more are all horrifyingly portrayed, and thus are criticized by the author, and by readers in turn. Some of what is so terrifying is recognizing so much of what hasn't changed since the period in which this story was portrayed. Realizing that our society isn't so far from the society depicted in the novel again makes for a rather effective and horrifying novel.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a fantastic writer, and I certainly will be on the lookout for more from her, or go back to reading her previous novels. You can find her at silviamoreno-garcia.com, on Facebook, or on Twitter @silviamg. 

*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*