Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
After receiving a frantic letter from her recently married cousin Catalina, Noemi Taboada is sent by her family to visit Catalina and scope out the situation. Traveling to a remote mountainous region of Mexico, Noemi arrives at High Place, the family home of the English Doyle family. The house is isolated and neglected with a group of secretive and silent residents who follow a set of strict house rules.
The local doctor informs Noemi that Catalina has a mild case of tuberculosis and requires rest and good food to recover. The family quickly squashes Noemi's efforts to bring in a psychologist to examine Catalina, and it becomes clear that Noemi is an unwelcome, meddlesome guest. Soon after arriving at the house, Noemi begins to experience a series of disturbing dreams or hallucinations. At the same time, she continues to push for more information about her cousin's condition and unexpectedly uncovers horrific secrets about the Doyle family that could threaten her very life.
There are strong gothic overtones similar to Wuthering Heights or Rebecca: creepy setting, perpetual fog or mist, run-down old house, controlling patriarch, rigid housekeeper, imprisoned wife. There is a little bit of everything here: gothic, mystery, horror, historical fiction, folklore.
I didn't like this one as well as Moreno-Garcia's first book Gods of Jade and Shadows. But if you like your fiction with a dose of weird, this could be for you.
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