Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Hello everyone. I hope you are well.

Does your spouse tell you all their secrets? I doubt we tell our spouses everything. I wish I could say that to you all in person and exaggerate "everything" and have a sly smile on my face. In our case, I am certain my husband has told me most life details.  How do I know? He's told me the same stories over and over, actually to be truthful I should add a couple of more "overs". One time, while driving to Florida I was imitating him talking about his old neighborhood and who painted his house, who left their trash cans out. I was so good (because I'd heard it all repeatedly), he had to pull over he was laughing so hard.  If he gets together with his friends God help you, it's a flurry of where they rode their bicycles, what each obscure corner has been renamed, and how such and such an area is over built. I suppose I should be grateful he isn't some criminal mastermind (stay tuned, just in case) or have some heinous life plan. Anyway, you get the picture, we're boring.

I recently read Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I didn't know anything about this book going in, not even the genre. This is the story of a young socialite, Noemi, whose father gets a letter from his recently married niece.  In this letter, the niece, Catalina, sounds crazy. She's not doing well physically and it is feared perhaps she needs some mental care. It is decided that Noemi will go pay a visit to her cousin and casually investigate to see what the situation requires. Nobody really knows Catalina's new husband and they certainly don't trust him.  Our heroine, Noemi, travels to Catalina's new home, to discover what secrets her new husband holds and why he is keeping his bride so isolated.

This book is a little bit thriller, but mostly horror and fantasy. Not usually my thing, but I raced through this story.  Part of the reason I think I liked it so much is the setting. The majority of the novel takes place in an old mansion at the top of a hill, surrounded by fog. The picture is complete with a road that is often impassible, broken-down outbuildings like a greenhouse and a spooky cemetery.  Naturally the house has unused rooms with furniture covered with dusty sheets, the mansion barely has heat and not any lighting that is usable. The setting, like in The Death of Mrs. Westaway, draws you in and the cast of bizarre characters keep you reading.

If you like horror and fantasy, definitely read Mexican Gothic. If you are not huge fans of those genres but looking for something new, I think you'll find this story well written, interesting, fast moving and the fantasy/horror takes itself so seriously that it will have you believing it too. If you are willing to go where this story takes you, you'll find it very entertaining.

By the way, I appreciate those stories of hubby's just a little bit more now. A peeling house or trash cans blown away sounds pretty darn good now.