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 their hacienda by the family
silver mine. Also joining them are the priest Bartolomé, Carlos’s boyhood
friend, and Elías, the family black sheep and Carlos’s cousin. Here, strange
events begin to occur, some expected, like a growing attraction between Alba and
Elías, and some unexpected, like the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition. As much
as I wanted to love this book, I often found that I struggled to pick it up and
continue to read it. The first half seemed to drag, with much of the focus on
the budding romance. I also felt that the introduction of the paranormal
elements was somewhat vague. For much of the book I struggled to remain engaged.
Fortunately, the pace picked up towards the end and the conclusion was as
sanguine as it was sanguinary. Bottom line: I enjoyed the book but it was not
the author’s best effort to date. I have faith that she will continue to create
more thrilling works in the future. *Quotations are cited from an advanced
reading copy and may not be the same as appears in the final published edition.
The review was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the
publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not
worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no
impact on the content of my review. FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based
on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements: *5 Stars –
Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. *4 Stars – It could stand for a
few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is. *3 Stars – A solid C
grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be
considered great or memorable. *2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good
start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style
and the ending. *1 Star – The only thing that would improve this book is a good
bonfire.
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