Booklist Reviews
Moreno-Garcia applies a Mexican-inspired twist across a variety of genres, most recently to crime fiction with Untamed Shore (2020). Now she takes on gothic suspense with a shiver-inducing tale combining touches of Northanger Abbey with bits of the Gormenghast trilogy thrown in for good measure. Noemí Taboada, privileged daughter of a wealthy Mexican industrialist, is a high-spirited flirt who is not prone to flights of fancy and not in the habit of believing in the supernatural. When Noemí's father sends her to check on her cousin who may be suffering delusions—or could be in danger from her new spouse—she finds a small, tight-knit family with strict rules and a troubled past, living in a mold-infested manor house. They are ruled by a dying patriarch with strong beliefs in eugenics who is oddly delighted to have another young lady come to their isolated estate, despite her inferior blood. The ever-present imagery of twisting vines and snakes swallowing their tails blends with ghostly memories of death and disease to create a fascinating atmosphere of dark dreams and intrigue. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.
BookPage Reviews
Two electrifying, elegant thrillers
A good gothic novel leaves the reader unable to trust anything—certainly not the narrator and often not even the conclusion. It's this uncertainty that makes for two thoroughly electric reads.
Set on a bleak stretch of Cornish coastline, Laura Purcell's The House of Whispers blends madness, disease and violent folklore together with truly terrifying results. Hester Why arrives at Morvoren House, the remote home of Louise Pinecroft, to serve as nurse and maid. In the aftermath of a stroke, Louise is a silent and eerie patient. She sits in a frigid room, watching her collection of bone china as if she expects it to run off. Adding to Hester's unease is Creeda, a member of the staff whose obsession with folk tales of cruel, vengeful faeries is as bizarre as it is chilling.
Hester is not the naive, virginal heroine that gothics of the 1970s and '80s relied on; she is often selfish, dependent on the praise and attention of her employers in a way that feels alarmingly co-dependent, and increasingly reliant on gin and laudanum to numb herself. Hester fled London after her rash behavior led to a tragedy, and as events at Morvoren House become more frightening, she has nowhere else to go. Through Hester, the reader experiences an atmosphere of increasing claustrophobia and desperation that makes this novel both terrifying and impossible to put down.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia begins as a dreamy gothic mystery but quickly unfolds into a visceral, almost hallucinogenic nightmare. Noemí Taboada is enjoying life as a young socialite in 1950s Mexico City when she receives a bizarre letter from her newlywed cousin, Catalina Doyle. Catalina insists that her husband, Virgil, is poisoning her, and Noemí travels to their estate of High Place to investigate.
ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Silvia Moreno-Garcia on how her family history inspired the character of Noemí.
Symbols of rot are everywhere in Moreno-Garcia's writing; mold and mushrooms seem to grow on every surface, and Noemí feels like the estate is decaying under her feet. Worse yet, Catalina's madness seems to be contagious, and even as Noemí tries to convince herself that her cousin is merely ill, she begins to experience vivid nightmares. The Doyle family's strange rituals and total isolation from their community similarly unnerve Noemí, preventing her from ever feeling safe.
Like characters in The House of Whispers, the family featured in Mexican Gothic is hiding some truly vile secrets. But while much of the violence in The House of Whispers takes place off-screen, Moreno-Garcia puts it front and center, delivering a distinctive and cinematic horror novel that is not for the faint of heart.
Copyright 2020 BookPage Reviews.BookPage Reviews
The Hold List: Best of the bestsellers
At BookPage HQ, we look at books months before they're published. So it's always a delight when something we adored finally hits shelves, and everyone else falls just as head-over-heels in love with it as we did. Here are five recent blockbusters whose climbs up the charts made us cheer.
I have long lamented the waning of the gothic novel. We as a society need more women running around crumbling hallways in giant ballgowns, gripping candelabras as they uncover hideous family secrets. Even if Silvia Moreno-Garcia's novel doesn't kick-start a whole new wave of romantically moody thrillers (though it certainly should), I'm delighted that its success catapulted its very deserving author onto the bestseller lists. Putting a unique and elegant stamp on a genre is Moreno-Garcia's signature move. She's written what she called a "fantasy of manners" with The Beautiful Ones and a Jazz Age coming-of-age novel that incorporated Mayan mythology in Gods of Jade and Shadow. So of course her gothic heroine isn't a timid wallflower. Noemí Taboada is a headstrong and glamorous socialite whose foibles and inner demons make her as interesting as she is heroic. And the ending? Let's just say it would blow Daphne du Maurier's hair back.
—Savanna, Associate Editor
Just as I Am
Perspective is a tricky thing to hold onto—the present moment with all its immediate concerns sure makes a lot of noise—but a thoughtful memoir of a long and well-lived life can help you find your center. Cicely Tyson's autobiography came out earlier this year, two days before the author's death, and quickly hit bestseller lists. It's more than a recounting of Tyson's life as a groundbreaking actor, producer and activist; it's also an examination of how a person can use their gifts to make a difference and the mindset required to act on that goal. Co-written with Michelle Burford, a founding editor of O, The Oprah Magazine, the memoir is structured chronologically from Tyson's childhood to later years, revealing how her rise as an actor led to a singular purpose: to use her art "as a force for good, as a place from which to display the full spectrum of our humanity." Because, as she writes, art must "mirror the times and propel them forward."
—Cat, Deputy Editor
Catch and Kill
The world has had more than its fair share of breaking news this past year, so it feels somewhat nostalgic to revisit newsworthy reporting from the bygone era of 2019. Ronan Farrow's explosively investigated book Catch and Kill delivers on every one of its subtitle's promises: "lies, spies and a conspiracy to protect predators." As journalist Farrow began looking into decades of allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein, ranging from verbal harassment to sexual abuse, his life began to get tricky. His employer, NBC, got more and more antsy about the story. He received a rash of threatening anonymous messages on Instagram. And through it all, he had the distinct feeling that he was being followed. This book's pacing is breathless, the twists increasingly twisty. At times it reads like a spy thriller, except better—because by the end of this electric story, real women who have suffered in silence for years are finally heard, believed and vindicated.
—Christy, Associate Editor
Once in a blue moon, a YA book earns universal critical acclaim and achieves great commercial success. The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo's debut novel in verse, was one such book. It won just about every award that exists to honor YA literature, including the National Book Award and the Michael L. Printz Award, and spent more than 20 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. You'll understand why as soon as you begin reading it. The story of Xiomara, a Dominican American teen who discovers the light of poetry burning within her and reckons with the forces in her life that would see it extinguished, will set your heart on fire. I especially recommend the audiobook for your first read, since Acevedo's narration draws out the meter and musicality of her accessible, conversational verses. I'm usually wary of sweeping statements, but in this case, one is merited: The Poet X is a perfect book that everyone should read.
—Stephanie, Associate Editor
Beach Read
I picked up Emily Henry's Beach Read last spring, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. With no travel plans on the horizon, a vicarious getaway to the shores of Lake Michigan was appealing, and during what were repeatedly referred to as "uncertain times," the anticipated beats of a rom-com sounded especially soothing. Why not read about two authors trying out each other's genres to beat writer's block, and reluctantly falling in love? Beach Read hit these marks and then surpassed them to become one of my favorite types of reading experiences: a diversion with depth. The screwball vibe and snappy dialogue I had been looking for are there on the page. But as Augustus and January slowly open up to one another, the lighter threads of the story are woven into an honest exploration of grief, trust and the healing power of art. It's a connection-affirming, generous novel that deserves its status as a word-of-mouth bestseller.
—Trisha, Publisher
Copyright 2021 BookPage Reviews.Kirkus Reviews
Moreno-Garcia offers a terrifying twist on classic gothic horror, set in 1950s Mexico. Inquisitive 22-year-old socialite and anthropology enthusiast Noemà Taboada adores beautiful clothes and nights on the town in Mexico City with a bevy of handsome suitors, but her carefree existence is cut short when her father shows her a disturbing letter from her cousin Catalina, who recently married fair-haired and blue-eyed Virgil Doyle, who comes from a prominent English mining family that built their now-dwindling fortune on the backs of Indigenous laborers. Catalina lives in High Place, the Doyle family's crumbling mansion near the former mining town of El Triunfo. In the letter, Catalina begs for NoemÃ's help, claiming that she is "bound, threads like iron through my mind and my skin," and that High Place is "sick with rot, stinks of decay, brims with every single evil and cruel sentiment." Upon NoemÃ's arrival at High Place, she's struck by the Doyle family's cool reception of her and their unabashed racism. She's alarmed by the once-vibrant Catalina's listless s tate and by the enigmatic Virgil and his ancient, leering father, Howard. Nightmares, hallucinations, and phantasmagoric dreams of golden dust and fleshy bodies plague NoemÃ, and it becomes apparent that the Doyles haven't left their blood-soaked legacy behind. Luckily, the brave Noemà is no delicate flower, and she'll need all her wits about her for the battle ahead. Moreno-Garcia weaves elements of Mexican folklore with themes of decay, sacrifice, and rebirth, casting a dark spell all the way to the visceral and heart-pounding finale. Fans of gothic classics like Rebecca will be enthralled as long as they don't mind a heaping dose of all-out horror. Copyright Kirkus 2020 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Reviews
When Mexico City debutante Noemí Taboada receives a desperate letter from her newlywed cousin Catalina, she heads to High Place manor in the Mexican countryside to investigate. As a socialite accustomed to the best that life in the 1950s has to offer, Noemí is appalled at the state of the isolated property and the deteriorating health of her cousin. When Catalina's English husband, Virgil, and Dr. Cummins, the family physician, answer her inquiries evasively, Noemí befriends Francis, the skittish, outcast youngest son who is eager to escape his family's legacy. As the clues about the manor's cursed, violent history and its patriarchal powers compound, Noemí's chances to escape, and rescue her cousin, fade. Do the answers lie within the pulsing walls of the manor, the flora of the grounds, or the cryptic, coded dreams of its inhabitants? As clarity becomes elusive and hope of outside rescue wanes, Noemí confronts the predestined, secretive pathos of the family, hoping to rectify its corruption.
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Moreno-Garcia's energetic romp through the gothic genre (after