The Hacienda by Isabel Canas

“Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca.” When I read this description, I knew this was a book I needed to read. Isabel Canas’s debut knocked it out of the park and did not disappoint! The description that sold me was spot on.

It’s the early 1800s and the Mexican government has been in a turmoil. Beatriz’s father has been executed and her family home destroyed. When the handsome Don Rodolfo Solorzano proposes, Beatriz accepts. She moves from the capital to the Solorzano family hacienda, San Isidro. As she enters San Isidro, she is struck by the lack of color and chill in the home. She figures with some hard work she can make it into the home of her dreams.

Then she meets her new sister-in-law, Juana, and the cook and experiences nights in San Isidro when Rodolfo goes back to the capital. It becomes clear why Juana doesn’t step foot in the house after dark and why the cook burns copal incense in the kitchen. She is on her own until she meets Padre Andres and recruits him to help her cleanse the house of the presence that is infesting its walls.

This book was fantastically creepy! I loved the time and place of the story and thought the atmosphere Isabel Canas created was almost too real (beware if reading at night!) at times. The story and characters were fleshed out perfectly and San Isidro was its own character which always makes for a good spooky tale. I highly recommend this to all fans of Simone St. James and all fans of gothic horror.

Check out The Hacienda by Isabel Canas at the Library (https://catalog.lclibs.org/polaris/search/title.aspx…) or through the eLibrary at https://lclibs.overdrive.com/media/6495151.