Published in 2020, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a contemporary gothic horror novel. I was excited to read it finally, though I am not usually a horror reader. This book is full of old gothic tropes as well as new ways to question history as well as the present. If you’re not into body horror, this might not be for you. I found it got quite gross at points.
Premise
Our story follows a Mexican socialite, Noemi, as she finds herself in a strange mansion in order to check up on her cousin, Catalina. Noemi makes a promise to her father that in order for him to continue paying for her education she would help Catalina. We find Catalina in an ill state. Noemi is determined to find out why. Catalina’s husband, Virgil, downplays her illness. He says she is just depressed. Noemi, who has known Catalina her whole life, questions this, since Catalina was never one to get depressed as such. The story then gets more strange and complicated as it progresses.
Review
The style of writing is quite interesting, clean yet reminiscent of the periods that are blending. The book is set in the 1920s. There is an air of “frivolous fun” to both Noemi and to how Garcia writes Noemi and frames her life. Since it is also a gothic novel, that style of writing comes through, too – particular, measured, classist.
This upper class snobbishness seems to come from both Noemi and the Doyles, despite their clash in interests. Noemi cares about art and living life joyously. In contrast, the Doyles turn their noses up to pretty much everything.
The characters are intriguing in their own ways. There are some typical tropes here with regard to bigoted behaviours and beliefs. I do find that Noemi stands out as a woman in a gothic novel. She’s flirty, lighthearted, enjoys dance and music, smokes cigarettes. She’s curious and interested in many things, which is evident in how she can’t stick to a subject to study. Francis, Virgil and Florence invite curiosity to them, though we don’t get to know them intimately. Perhaps this is because they don’t know themselves. They also radiate with predictability for the setting. In many ways this suits the story itself, as well as the character tropes.
The setting is creepy and strange, at times claustrophobic. The Doyle mansion starts out feeling neglected, cold, and dark. Over time it becomes more obvious why.
Pacing-wise, Mexican Gothic is slow as events unfold in hints at first. It’s easy to read, though. You’ll barely feel like you’ve gone through thirty pages. By the halfway point you have some degree of understanding of what is happening, but it’s not until 2/3’s of the way through that it all becomes clear.
Overall, I did enjoy reading Mexican Gothic. My only criticism is that once the action starts, it becomes excessive. I like the slow unwrapping of events. However, once it does unwrap that’s all there is.
I have some more things to say I will write below here that are spoiler heavy, so feel free to exit the post if you wish.
Rating: 4/5
If you’d like to purchase a copy of Mexican Gothic, you can do so at Bookshop.org where you can support independent bookstores in the USA. If you’re in Canada you can get it at Book Outlet for free shipping until January 1st 2023.
Mexican Gothic or Post-colonial Gothic
Something I was thinking about as I was reading is how, for a novel called Mexican Gothic, there is very little in it that feels Mexican. The Doyles are British and their home is full of British trinkets they brought over and passed down to one another, like heirlooms. The Doyle family steep in an attitude of superiority and hard racism, too. It’s surprising that they’d let Noemi into their homes, let alone speak to her at all.
In my own naivete, I found myself wondering why I was reading something that falsely advertises itself. Thing is, as readers we’re supposed to feel this way. We’re asking the right questions.
Mexican Gothic is a book about colonialism. We know this on a human level, because of how these rich British families built mansions in the middle of Mexico, hired indigenous Mexican miners, and let them die there. They barely fed them, paid them, or cared for their health. This is true in the book as it is true to history.
But the additional colonization in Mexican Gothic shows the extent of the horrors of colonialism, in how the fungus kills the natives, only thrives in the Doyles, and how they feed and nurture it even to sacrifice themselves. They behave in barbaric ways to keep it alive. I think that this is a metaphor for lasting legacies, for what descendents of European colonizers often deny as horrific, or won’t let go of even as it sacrifices their health, lives, ecosystems. Perhaps this is capitalism, excess, racial hierarchy, etc. Whatever it is, Moreno makes it clear in her writing that the thing that colonizes has no mercy.
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