Mexican Gothic
by Silvia Moreno Garcia
Mexican Gothic is a fresh, inventive take on the classic gothic novel. It’s creepy in all the ways you’d expect: the crumbling mansion, the family secrets. It’s also unsettling in darker ways, like how Mexican history grapples with its legacy of imperialism. Throughout, a cosmopolitan heroine holds her own.
The eBook and eAudiobook are available to borrow immediately — NO WAITING — during March with a WCLS library card. Check it out and read along with WCLS librarians and our community of readers. Join us…won’t you?
Questions and Prompts for readers:
Have you read anything else that might be considered “gothic”? What other books/movies/TV shows does Mexican Gothic remind you of? Let us know in the comments!
If you haven’t started yet, this (spoiler-free!) Q&A with author Silvia Moreno-Garcia will pique your interest: https://www.texasbookfestival.org/book-club-discussion-qa-with-mexican-gothic-author-silvia-moreno-garcia/
Traditional gothic novels are set in Europe—think the moors of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. What was your first reaction to Mexican Gothic’s setting? What about the High Place is so unsettling? Tell us in the comments!
Bonus: many publishers rejected this manuscript because “a book set in Mexico will never sell.” Learn about the inspiration for Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican setting in this LitHub interview: https://lithub.com/silvia-moreno-garcia-on-writing-a-more-authentic-mexico/
Mexican Gothic isn’t just a gothic horror—it’s also historical fiction. Readers: In what ways does Mexican history and its 1950s setting shape the story? What did you learn about Mexican history that you didn’t know before? Let us know in the comments.
Bonus: We love this Vox article about the ways that Mexican Gothic addresses colonialism and subverts gothic tropes.