The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas
In the past few years, we have seen a big increase in the number gothic historical horror stories based in Mexico. Mexican American author Isabel Cañas is one of the preeminent scribes of this genre. Her two previous novels, The Hacienda, and Vampires of El Norte, were both bestsellers that relied heavily on the Hispanic folklore and mythology that Cañas learned from her storytelling grandparents. Having lived in Mexico myself and studied its history and culture, I was fascinated by these books and was totally enthralled by both. I have been looking forward to reading the latest of her literary creations. In ‘The Possession of Alba Díaz’, Cañas delivers the same sense of time and place that she did in her two previous novels, ably describing the Mexican mining capitol of Zacatecas of 1765 as an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever bears down on the city, causing many of its residents to flee in panic. Such is the case with Alba Díaz, who joins the family of Carlos, her fiancé, and at th...
