An electrifying chiller that plays with the conventions and form of the gothic thriller quite brilliantly, Moreno-Garcia’s brooding tale of a crepuscular mansion high on a Mexican hill. Ominous, perfectly paced and genuinely terrifying, Mexican Gothic is a gloriously unnerving piece of work.
'You don't read this book so much as surrender to it. A dark and heady swoon' - Guardian
He is trying to poison me. You must come for me, Noemí. You have to save me.
When glamorous socialite Noemí Taboada receives a frantic letter from her newlywed cousin begging to be rescued from a mysterious doom, it's clear something is desperately amiss. Catalina has always had a flair for the dramatic, but her claims that her husband is poisoning her and her visions of restless ghosts seem remarkable, even for her.
Noemí's chic gowns and perfect lipstick are more suited to cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing, but she immediately heads to High Place, a remote mansion in the Mexican countryside, determined to discover what is so affecting her cousin.
Tough and smart, she possesses an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: not of her cousin's new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi's dreams with visions of blood and doom.
Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family's youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family's past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family's once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.
And Noemí, mesmerised by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to leave this enigmatic house behind . . .
'This pitch-perfect Gothic tale is a delicious, delicious delight' - Heat
Publisher: Quercus Publishing
ISBN: 9781529402650
Number of pages: 320
Weight: 530 g
Dimensions: 238 x 162 x 32 mm
Clever, wicked and winning. Moreno-Garcia well and truly hits the mark with Mexican Gothic - Angela Slatter, author of the World Fantasy Award-winning The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings
Blends chilling scenes of all-out horror with elements of traditional gothic . . . It's Lovecraft meets the Brontës in Latin America - Guardian
With peculiar characters, a family curse and enough suspense to hold the reader's attention, it is the perfect summer read - The Lady
This pitch-perfect Gothic tale is a delicious, delicious delight - Heat
Masterful . . . a gloriously moody adventure. Spooky, smart, and wry. Chic, no-nonsense Noemí Taboada is one hell of a tour guide through this world of mystery, scandal and spirits - Victor LaValle, author of The Changeling
Darkly brilliant and captivating. Readers who love old houses and family secrets will devour this book (as I did!). The setting itself - High Place, with its reputation for devouring the dreams of young women - is a character in this marvelously fantastical novel. From 1950s glamorous Mexican high society to the crumbling pride of an abandoned silver mine, Moreno-Garcia enthralls with this twisty tale of love and betrayal - Yangsze Choo, New York Times bestselling author of The Night Tiger and The Ghost Bride
Tense, atmospheric and beautifully written, Mexican Gothic will carry readers back in time to 1950s Mexico where a dark secret looms large, insidiously winding its way through the pages. A spellbinding, suspenseful, immersive read! - Chanel Cleeton, New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of The Last Train to Key West
A gorgeous piece of work . . . absolutely terrifying, and it has stayed with me in a powerful way - Sarah Gailey, Hugo Award-winning author of Magic for Liars
So powerful I sometimes had to look away . . . plays all the classic Gothic tropes with deft confidence while weaving in a much more modern and visceral strain of horror - Vivian Shaw, author of the Dr Greta Helsing series
Stylish and sinister . . . a gothic masterpiece - Gwenda Bond, New York Times bestselling author of Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds
A fitting example of a new American Gothic novel, as Moreno-Garcia re-imagines this classic genre. You'll certainly find yourself caught between gasps of horror as you start to unravel this mysterious story, just remember to leave the light on as you sit down for a good read - Starburst
When it comes to the horror, though, Moreno-Garcia gets it absolutely right... it's enormously fun - Telegraph
Moreno-Garcia is having a blast playing with the conventions of Gothic literature - Locus
Moreno-Garcia writes with heated abandon . . . Mexican Gothic's fearsome storytelling can't be contained - Shelf Awareness
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 finalé. Fans of gothic classics like Rebecca will be enthralled - Kirkus
Mexican Gothic terrified and fascinated me. Silvia Moreno-Garcia proves once again that she's a genre-jumping wizard, one of the most exciting and necessary authors writing today - Charlie Jane Anders, award-winning author of The City in the Middle of the Night
A shiver-inducing tale combining touches of Northanger Abbey with bits of the Gormenghast trilogy thrown in for good measure . . . a fascinating atmosphere of dark dreams and intrigue - Booklist
Moreno-Garcia's energetic romp through the gothic genre is delightfully bonkers . . . [getting] wilder and stranger with every chapter - Publishers Weekly
[An] original, well-paced novel . . . great gothic elements with a little VanderMeer creativity thrown in - Library Journal
An inspiring and totally original homage to Gothic stories of yore, Moreno-Garcia introduces readers to an awesomely creepy place and extremely evil family whose grip on power relies upon their ability to trap others in their venomous web . . . this is not your mother's Gothic tale - Becky Spratford, RA for All
Heart-thumping thriller-chiller - Lancashire Evening Post
This twisty horror fantasy is engrossing and wonderfully repulsive - Buzzfeed
A gothic chiller, set in 1950s Mexico, that will clamp you in its icy embrace and linger like a nightmare - Daily Mail
A gripping read and, despite the horror and violence of the story, it's a strangely beautiful one. This is an impressive chiller-thriller; the writing is steeped in the spirit of the Victorian gothic tale and it's as well done as any recent homage - Barry Forshaw on Crime Time
Immersive and suspenseful, Mexican Gothic is up there with this year's best novels - Culturefly
Intriguing and disturbing, what starts as a slow burn ends up an unsettling edge-of-the-seat page-turner - The Skinny
There are echoes of Mary Stewart and Daphne du Maurier, but Moreno-Garcia has plenty of satisfying twists of her own - i news
A superb fireside evening read - NB magazine
A pitch-perfect Gothic novel . . . You will be left unsettled, unsteady, and uncertain. You will also be left satisfied - NPR
The genre's palette is typically limited, but it doesn't necessarily have to be-as Mexican Gothic amply, deliriously, and gloriously demonstrates. No lazy afternoon spent reading it will ever feel wasted - Slate
It's as if a supernatural power compels us to turn the pages of the gripping Mexican Gothic - The Washington Post
A period thriller as rich in suspense as it is in lush '50s atmosphere - Entertainment Weekly
The books starts off with a mystery and slowly descends into horror that grips you to the page - Uptown Oracle
I love a good gothic horror novel and Mexican Gothic didn't disappoint - The Indian Express
Gripping, terrifying, atmospheric and suspenseful - Big Issue North’s best books of 2020
A deeply, creepy read...builds to a strange, pulsing, psychedelic ending - SFX Magazine
This novel gives classic tropes a fresh and thrilling take - Big Issue: Top 5 books if you're into Gothic tales
Stylish and edgy . . . While the book draws inspiration from Gothic classics like Rebecca and Jane Eyre - there is a spunky female protagonist and an ancient house filled with disturbing secrets - its archly intelligent tone and insightful writing make Mexican Gothic an original escape to an eerie world - The New York Times
An inspired mash-up of Jane Eyre, Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho, Dracula, Rebecca and that 1958 classic sci-fi movie, The Blob . . . Inventive and smart, [Mexican Gothic is] injecting the Gothic formula with some fresh blood - NPR’s Fresh Air
[An] irresistibly dark feminist reimagining of the Gothic fantasy novel . . . It's all wonderfully creepy, blending chilling scenes of horror with classic Gothic tropes for a seductive and subversive tale. A book to devour in a few - very thrilling - sittings - Vanity Fair
The author's postcolonial spin on the gothic tradition evokes the usual suspects: Daphne du Maurier, Emily Brontë, Mary Shelley, even Anne Radcliffe. Like those authors, Moreno-Garcia works in a tradition in which chills and thrills tap into elemental cultural fears-runaway science, carnal passion. But to these she adds a more politically inflected horror, both ancient and timely - Los Angeles Times
A new classic of the genre . . . alluring and foreboding, ambiguous and beautiful. And like its heroine Noemí, it's ambitious, determined, and well worth getting to know - Chicago Review of Books
This twisty horror fantasy is engrossing and wonderfully repulsive. . . . This is a must-read for fans of gothic writers like the Brontës, Daphne du Maurier, and Shirley Jackson, and also for those who enjoy the feminist, surreal fiction of Carmen Maria Machado - Buzzfeed
Deliciously creepy . . . Read it with your lights on - and know that strange dreams might begin to haunt you, as they haunted Noemí - Vox
The title of the novel tells us what it is. It is a Gothic story set in the country of Mexico in the 1950's. And it is a good one moving slowly up the fright ladder logically until an ending that is a good... More
The book that wins this years award for best title that describes exactly what the book is. This is a Mexican Gothic horror which feels like a response to Del Toro's Crimson Peak - fine, Silvia Moreno-Garcia... More
A worrisome letter from her cousin Catalina brings Noemí to a remote place called „High Place“. Only a year ago, Catalina married Virgil Doyle and moved with him in the mansion close to a former mine where the British... More
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