The House of Usher Meets The Last of Us
I just finished Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This book has been on my TBR (to be read) for a little over a year and I am SO glad I was able to finally give it the time it deserved.
In this beautifully written spooky story, a grim and mysterious letter beckons the protagonist Noemi Taboada from her home in Mexico City to a remote gothic English countryside manor far away from everything she knows.
When Noemi arrives at High Place, she is instantly greeted with an eerie cold that never lets her settle, from both the inhabitants and the house they occupy. Her cousin is in a state Noemi can neither understand or believe, but she knows there’s shadows surrounding the family her cousin married into which might be driving her into madness.
My Review & Who I'd Recommend this For
Moreno-Garcia’s descriptive writing is akin to 19th-century gothic literature authors where the perception of the narrator is unreliable and we stay tight to the perspective of one character, thus enhancing the tension as we see the setting only through one set of eyes.
There were several times when the chilling sensory details reminded me of H.P. Lovecraft or of Edgar Allan Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher, where the very setting is described as a living, breathing, entity capable of all types of manipulation and deceit. And the manor High Place is crawling with deceit. The descriptions of High Place set the dark and moody tone of the novel, but, like any good scary story, there is light humor dotted throughout, with Noemi’s sharp sarcastic quips, which I really appreciated. It is always nice nice to have some catch-your-breath moments in heavy stories like this.
As someone who has studied natural and traditional herbal remedies and is learning about Brujeria, this book held some particularly fascinating passages where it was clear the author had done her research, artfully weaving traditional medicines and folk practices into her story. While I’m not particularly well-versed in Mexican history, not having that background familiarity did not negatively impact my reading as the allusions Moreno-Silvia makes are well explained by the contexts of the scenes.
This book held me on its every word. I listened to this one as an audio book and the narrator, Frankie Corzo, was FANTASTIC. Whether I was working on my garden or cleaning up my classroom, having this story ringing in my ears was quite a pleasant, albeit very spooky, escape. I would recommend this story for readers who like classic Vincent Price-esk horror. The descriptions are not for the faint of heart and this does take a supernatural turn, which, if that’s not your thing, then this may not be the right story for you.
I mentioned the HBO series and video game The Last of Us because I’d love to dive into spoilers about why I loved this book so much, but this is a no-spoiler zone. If you’d like to chat with me more about why I loved this book – if you don’t care about spoilers or if you’ve already read it – drop me a message on Instagram or Facebook and I’ll reply!
Have you read this book? Do you have any other similar titles you’d recommend? Let me know in the comments below and see you in the next post!
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