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A review by artemistics
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
dark
tense
medium-paced
2.75
mexican gothic is a historical gothic horror set in a rotting house ran by an english family in mid-20th century mexico. our protagonist noemí is part of a post-revolución, new bourgeoisie family (i had in mind the characters and house from buñuel's el ángel exterminador for that banging opening chapter) who lives in ciudad de méxico in the 1950s, and the doyles are an old money english family who used to run a silver mine in hidalgo before tragedy and sickness made their business fall from grace, and these two universes come together when noemí's father sends her to check up on her cousin catalina, newly married into the doyle family and exhibitng erratic behavior in letters. given the promise inherent in the title, i was surprised about the fact that this story, by easily switching names and minor background details, could have taken place anyplace, and even anytime. history knows english people can be racist anywhere they set foot on.
i was very, very hype about this book for a good couple of years, i've basically had it in my orbit since it came out, because i love a good gothic tale and i love latin america (greetings from latin america). a postcolonial mexican horror tale about exploitation by europeans featuring an ugly ass house sounded very excellent to me. with a strong start, i was pretty ready to submerge myself into the doyle's mysteries with noemí, but, sadly, the action becomes stagnant pretty quick. there was the foundation for a strong, eerie atmosphere in the doyle's isolated, moldy (very moldy) family house, along with the creepy patriarch, leering cousin-in-law and dismissive lady of the house, but noemí's detective adventures investigating what is happening to catalina (aided by pretty heavy-handed info dumps from a local) are slow, and while her dreams and sleepwalking are creepy, the revelations we unveil with her don't build momentum upon themselves the longer noemí is exposed to the house. and even though the big reveal and explanation for the family's doings is very grand and definitely horrific and gross, it unfortunately fell flat for me after my investment in the book diminished between the 20 and 70% marks. it was disappointing how the mexican lore, to put it some way, i expected to be interwoven into the plot was practically nonexistent, and again the setting informs the current context of the story, but does not feel inextricable from it; it even could have easily been lightly edited to take place in a different continent, and, i feel, the story's bare bones wouldn't change.
all in all, very middle of the road for me. a case of too high expectations, i suppose. still interested in the rest of moreno-garcía's work, but very sad to report that mexican gothic was a let down.
i was very, very hype about this book for a good couple of years, i've basically had it in my orbit since it came out, because i love a good gothic tale and i love latin america (greetings from latin america). a postcolonial mexican horror tale about exploitation by europeans featuring an ugly ass house sounded very excellent to me. with a strong start, i was pretty ready to submerge myself into the doyle's mysteries with noemí, but, sadly, the action becomes stagnant pretty quick. there was the foundation for a strong, eerie atmosphere in the doyle's isolated, moldy (very moldy) family house, along with the creepy patriarch, leering cousin-in-law and dismissive lady of the house, but noemí's detective adventures investigating what is happening to catalina (aided by pretty heavy-handed info dumps from a local) are slow, and while her dreams and sleepwalking are creepy, the revelations we unveil with her don't build momentum upon themselves the longer noemí is exposed to the house. and even though the big reveal and explanation for the family's doings is very grand and definitely horrific and gross, it unfortunately fell flat for me after my investment in the book diminished between the 20 and 70% marks. it was disappointing how the mexican lore, to put it some way, i expected to be interwoven into the plot was practically nonexistent, and again the setting informs the current context of the story, but does not feel inextricable from it; it even could have easily been lightly edited to take place in a different continent, and, i feel, the story's bare bones wouldn't change.
all in all, very middle of the road for me. a case of too high expectations, i suppose. still interested in the rest of moreno-garcía's work, but very sad to report that mexican gothic was a let down.