La Hacienda / Isabel Cañas / 2022
Complete with a spiteful upper caste sister-in-laws, a spooky house, and an unrequited relationship with a hot priest, The Hacienda offers a robust package when it comes to historical horror. Readers will find the history of the Mexican revolution and its racial politics seamlessly knitted into the drama of Beatriz’s marriage to Don Rodolfo Solórzano, her lifesaver turned nightmare. The mystery of what plagues the house is skillfully wrought, and the only real qualm I have with the novel is that it teased vampires without really ever delivering. Cañas skillfully flips between the perspectives of a mestizo priest and curandero and Beatriz, our upper-class protagonist, who must navigate colonial patriarchy and race politics to save herself and her family from poverty. The writing feels only one strike away from literary fiction, as opposed to genre fiction. 4 out 5.