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Another View on Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

4 Aug

Mexican Gothic involves a young woman, Noemi Taboada, who is sent by her father to check on the welfare of her cousin Catalina. Catalina has married into a family living in a decrepit mansion in a part of Mexico that is damp and misty and creepy. Catalina sent a letter to Noemi’s dad that leads them to question her physical and mental state. It all takes place in the early 50s.

Every gothic novel has to have some of these elements: the creepy mansion with a name (High Place), the weird social/familial relationships, the haunting aspects. Check, check, check.

What makes this novel so interesting is the strongly feminist Noemi, who is pretty feisty for a woman back in the early 50s. She is willing to stand up to the weirdness demonstrated by Catalina’s new family, and try to save her cousin, all the while you sense she is in increasing danger from…….well, you don’t know exactly what, and neither does Noemi. But you knew there was going to be trouble when the family totem depicts a snake swallowing its own tail.

Noemi won’t obey the rules of the house that she is expected to follow. She suffers nightmares, and sleepwalks. She hears voices. She can’t trust her own senses. She is isolated and repulsed (you will be too!) by the wetness, mold, and mildew that surrounds her.

While not a fan of the horror genre in general, I ended up really enjoying this book. It was well written, suspenseful, and weaves in some wider horror — societal horror — to boot.

Mexican Gothic is available in print from BCCLS, in eBook from eBCCLS and eLibraryNJ, and as audiobook from eLibraryNJ and eBCCLS. You can also read a previous blog post written by one of my colleagues about this fantastic book.

Written by:
Victoria Turk
Reference Librarian

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A Suspenseful Country Noir: The Captive

24 Mar

Typically, I’m not drawn to fast-paced, high-tension adventure stories that pit man against nature  in a survival of the fittest scenario. However, Fiona King Foster’s debut novel The Captive is not only a propulsive wilderness adventure, but a suspenseful and tightly written country noir with considerable plot substance and gritty well-developed characters. I was lured in by the author’s  vivid descriptions of what seemed like an Old West landscape and a family struggling to survive  during a harrowing exploration of loyalty, trauma and resilience. 

Brooke Holland, once involved with her family’s drug war with the rival Cawley clan, has  established a new identity with her husband Milo and her two preteen daughters, who knows nothing of her violent past. They are content operating a small farm in the remote wilderness, miles from any form of established civilization. All seems well until Brooke learns that Stephen Cawley has escaped federal prison and is probably hunting for her with the intent of settling an  old score. When Cawley raids their farm, Brooke subdues him and attempts to transport him on foot to a distant federal outpost, thereby claiming the $5,000 bounty, which could save their  failing farm. Thus, she begins a harrowing trek with her husband and children across a forbidding and dangerous winter landscape. 

Along the treacherous journey, Foster intersperses detailed flashbacks from Brooke’s past, which further propel the current tension and danger and allows the reader to feel compassion for her as she develops a steely determination to save her loved ones. The rough winter poses obstacles and various unsavory and ruthless characters that they meet along the way pose threats to Brooke’s ultimate plan. Even getting separated from her children during a winter blizzard adds suspense to this fast-paced adventure and keeps the adrenaline pumping. 

The suspenseful thriller builds as strained family dynamics are brought to a breaking point and old wounds between rival family drug wars resurface. The ghosts, both real and imagined, from  Brooke’s past still haunt her and she questions her motives and well as her actions and the  consequences they may have. Ultimately, the chilling adventure leads to an explosive climax  involving an intense stand-off, a fire, and a gun-shooting duel, all reminiscent of the wild west.  Granted, this denouement may seem outlandish and larger than life, but it seems to fit the suspenseful buildup and tension and gives the reader a sense of hope for Brooke, her family and  their future. 

Available from Hoboken and other BCCLS libraries.

Written by:
Ethan Galvin
Information and Digital Services Librarian

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