
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Del Rey, 2020
★★★★★
The Guardian describes Mexican Gothic as “Lovecraft meets the Brontes in Latin America,” which is rather apt. Moreno-Garcia has written a delectably Gothic, deliciously weird, and appropriately horrifying tale of a young woman tasked with rescuing her cousin, allegedly imprisoned in a dilapidated old mansion, potentially being poisoned by her husband’s family.
It is an homage to all kinds of classic Gothic tropes: the woman trapped in the attic, a creepy house that may or may not be haunted, villainous men who are also romantically alluring, incest, and family secrets, but Moreno-Garcia also throws in a Lovecraftian twist of truly weird cosmic horror. It’s not so much scary as it is incredibly creepy; Moreno-Garcia knows how to slowly heighten tension and build up dread. Her lush and eerie descriptors are buffeted by her elegant writing style, creating a dank, oppressive tone and a claustrophobic atmosphere. There is also something so very visual about Mexican Gothic; Moreno-Garcia’s descriptions are so incredibly vivid. Basically, I would sell my soul to see this adapted into a film!
While I love Gothic horror in theory, one of my issues with it is that it can be plodding and slow; happily, I had no such issues with Mexican Gothic. From the very first page I was hooked by Noemi’s narrative voice, and the story gets moving fast. The book doesn’t overstay its welcome nor does it waste its relatively short page time by meandering; words are certainly not wasted here. The mystery culminates in a gloriously creepy revolution that leaves nothing to the imagination, which I absolutely loved; few horror books wrap up loose ends so neatly, but I appreciate closure very much, so I thought the ending was incredibly satisfying.
In an interview, Moreno-Garcia describes Mexican Gothic as “trashy but classy” and compares it to Flowers in the Attic (though she says it isn’t quite as trashy as that). While I understand her assertion that this isn’t exactly high literature, and that it takes inspiration from trashy Gothic stories, I also think that, thematically, this is quite an achievement! In changing the setting to Mexico and placingwhite people in the position of inscrutable villain/monster rather than the dark-skinned Mexican heroine, Moreno-Garcia subverts traditional Gothic implications of the dark foreigner as Other. This is underscored by the frequent discussions of eugenics in the story, and the heroine’s positionality as a budding anthropologist who scorns her hosts’ eugenicist beliefs.
In short, this book is both brilliant and gratifying, in addition to being delightfully entertaining!
This looks so good and i’m soooo excited to read it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh wow, this sounds fantastic! I’ve been meaning to try this author for a while, and I think you’ve just pinpointed which book I should start with! Gothic horror for the win. Great review!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of my all-time favorite authors. I would also highly recommend The Beautiful Ones, which is one of my favorite books ever.
LikeLiked by 1 person