I liked Mexican Gothic, but I did not love it. It is a deliciously gothic novel set in a creepy old mansion that may or may not be haunted, but the true horror in the novel is rooted in Mexico’s colonial history and eugenics. The novel takes a bizarre turn towards the end, but I just went with it because it does fit in with the themes of the novel.

Mexican Gothic is set in 1950s Mexico and the protagonist is Mexican socialite Noemi Toboada, a flirtatious young woman who likes music, dancing and partying, but who is also intelligent and rational. One night her father, a successful businessman, summons her home early from a party with a request, but first he shows her a letter from her cousin, Catalina, whom Noemi has not seen for about a year since she got hastily married to an Englishman. Catalina’s letter sounds like the ravings of a madwoman, and she accuses her new husband, Virgil Doyle, of poisoning her. Noemi’s father has not been able to get a satisfactory answer from Virgil as to why Catalina would write such a letter, so he wants Noemi to go visit her cousin and find out what is going on, and he promises to let her attend university if she agrees to do so.

Within days Noemi has travelled to High Place, the ancestral home of the Doyle family, which is in the Mexican countryside and up a mountain. The setting is inspired by a real town in Mexico called Real del Monte, nicknamed “Little Cornwall” because the English took over the silver mines in the area in the 19th century and left their influence, and an English cemetery, behind. The fictional High Place is isolated and in a bad state of neglect; mold covers everything in and outside of the mansion, and it is dark and gloomy. There is a creepy, fog shrouded cemetery next door. Virgil and Catalina live at High Place with Virgil’s father, Howard, the family’s patriarch, and his aunt Florence and her son, Francis, and only three servants.

It is quite clear when Noemi arrives at High Place that she is not welcome there. Florence barely conceals her hostility towards Noemi; Virgil is either very (falsely) charming or very menacing; and pretty much the first thing that Howard says to Noemi is that she is “darker” than her cousin, before bringing up the subject of eugenics. Yep, this is a family full of racists. But it is also apparent that Howard is the white colonist that fetishizes non-white women. Francis, who Noemi thinks is awkward and not very attractive, is the only one who is nice to her and helps her. The Doyle family used to run a profitable silver mine and they abused and cheated their indigenous workers. Now they are poor and living in a derelict house, but they are arrogant enough to think that the Doyle name still means something.

Noemi is told that her cousin Catalina has tuberculosis, but she is starting to recover, albeit slowly. When Noemi is allowed to see Catalina, she at first seems fine, but then she starts raving about the voices that she is hearing. Noemi does not trust the Doyles and she does not trust their family doctor, but Virgil will not let Noemi take Catalina to see a psychiatrist in the city.

Yet Noemi refuses to leave High Place and refuses to leave Catalina. Noemi and Catalina were raised together, and they were very close until Catalina got married. Catalina is the romantic type who loves fairy tales, and gothic novels like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Noemi, on the other hand, is headstrong and fearless, which is why she stands up to and defies the Doyles. What I like best about Noemi, though, is that she is a capable heroine who does not make stupid decisions. However, even High Place starts to have an affect on her. She starts having disturbing dreams that she is not entirely sure are dreams, seeing things that she is not entirely sure are there, and she starts sleepwalking. Mexican Gothic takes its time in unravelling Noemi’s confidence, but it can be quite suspenseful to read as the situation Noemi finds herself in gets more and more dangerous.

And then the twist happens. Not going to lie, I am kind of disappointed with the twist as I do like a good ghost story. But this is Noemi’s story, and as she says at one point in the novel, “Maybe there is a haunting in this house, but it can be explained logically”. Only the “logical” explanation is not really logical. In any event, I think Mexican Gothic is a good story with a good ending. If gothic is your genre, then you may enjoy reading Mexican Gothic.