Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 7/10/2021 + 1179 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

I was kind of mixed on this one. It's touted as a gothic novel and takes place in Mexico in 1950. The main protagonist, Noemi goes to the Mexican countryside to a place called High Place after her father receives a cryptic letter from Noemi's cousin Catalina. High Place turns out to be an old mansion that has been neglected. It is very gloomy, has patches of mold throughout, and only has a limited amount of electricity so the residents have to use candles and oil lamps for light. It's located in the mountains and is damp and cold and can only be accessed by a very narrow mountain road that tends to washout in the rainy season. When Noemi arrives, she finds Catalina in bed and pretty much out of it. Her husband Virgil and the rest of the family are very inhospitable with the exception of the youngest son, Francis. The patriarch of the family, Howard, is old and near death but he still seems to control the household. The house is full of symbols including many depictions of the ouroboros (a snake eating its tail). Noemi begins having vivid nightmares as the house seems to infect her mind. But what is really going on?

The novel took a long time to actually get to the horror of the story. The first two thirds of the story have Noemi trying to figure out what is really happening at the house and trying to understand what is wrong with her cousin. Then the last part of the novel reveals what is really happening and how the family is being controlled by Howard. I seemed to have spent a lot of time waiting for something to happen and then when it did, it was like reading an old story by H.P. Lovecraft or Robert E. Howard from an old issue of Weird Tales. I do like to read these types of stories occasionally but I'm not sure if this really worked too well for this novel. I did enjoy the setting in the old house at High Place but overall I would only mildly recommend this.

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