This time, she’s crushing on a priest too, well, he has a secret, but for once it’s not that he’s the devil in disguise. No he is not.

56. The Hacienda – Isabel Canas

This is quite a spin on the Gothic and I believe it’s supposed to be listed as gothic romance, but it’s more of a gothic horror. In horror, there are fewer structurally sound elements that have to be upheld, unlike romance where structure seems to be queen. One thing that sets it aside from a lot of the 1970s gothic thrillers and romances that I’ve been reading lately, which all share some similar traits (like this does), to Rebecca, mostly that stately house that you have to run away from at some point, is Beatriz being more of a lady of action than a run and screamer. Probably because she’s a little bit older than the usual gothic heroines, at almost 20 or 20ish. Although, Beatriz does spend a lot of time upset and sleepless (which honestly makes one a bit fragile for sure) and sometimes wants her husband, who she barely knows, there to help, which is not so actiony. However, the other deviation is what she’s trying to run away from is actually scary. The haunted house here, San Isidro, is very ominous and present. It’s not shy, it’s like super mad and I like that. She takes steps on her own because her sister-in-law sure isn’t going to help her, her husband’s gone constantly and just a means to a house, and so the relationship she develops with the priest and the combination of tactics needed to overcome the obstacles in her way are fun and enveloping and more interesting than they usually are in these stories. It’s very nice to have more options and more folklore to work with and a bit of haunted Mexico in the gothic world.

 

Merricat’s on the lookout for ghosts of first wives. There are a lot of them lying around in brick walls apparently.