Book Review - Isabel Cañas's The Hacienda
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: May 3rd, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
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Beatriz lost everything with the death of her father. Branded a traitor he was executed and she and her mother moved in with relatives who treated them worse than slaves. When Beatriz catches the eye of Don Rodolfo Solórzano she jumps at the chance of a new beginning and a home of her own. He's well off and has a position of power in the new Provisional Government and is wealthy enough to support two residences, a house in the city and his family pulque plantation in the county. Her mother's dislike of him can be overcome in time, and as for the rumors of what happened to his first wife? She thinks little of it, which might be just what her new husband wants, someone desperate enough to not ask questions. His job keeps him in town while Beatriz will primarily reside at the Hacienda San Isidro, an arrangement that suits him perfectly. Of course Beatriz had pictured San Isidro as her husband romanticized it in stories of his childhood. She did not expect the rundown house with the verdant growth gone to rot. She also didn't expect to be dumped there. Surely a newly wedded man would want to spend time with his wife? But she is soon left alone in a hostile environment. Her sister-in-law Juana wants nothing to do with her or the house and the staff keep themselves apart. Beatriz got what she thought she wanted and is more alone than she's ever been. If she can restore San Isidro, bring the house and the gardens back to life, she can lure her mother to live with her and perhaps then she will feel less alone. But the house doesn't want this. She hears voices and sees things that cannot possibly be real. She looks to Juana for confirmation but gets none. Yet why does Juana only enter the house when she has to and only during daylight? Beatriz has nowhere to turn but the church. Padre Andrés is a newly ordained priest and he is the only one who will listen to Beatriz. He grew up at San Isidro and as soon as he returns he can tell that something is horribly wrong. This isn't the home he knew and Beatriz is right, there's danger here. Thankfully Andrés is willing to help the young bride, but as they battle San Isidro they have to battle their growing attraction and victory is not assured. Not in the least.
This book was lauded as Rebecca meets Mexican Gothic. Now I, for one, will admit that PR for a book has to always go for the biggest names, the one haunted house book with true name recognition to compare to the haunted house book they're trying to get you to pick up. It's all designed to grab our attention, and I totally fall for it. Every. Single. Time. You liked this? Well you'll love this, it's the same but better! No, it never is. Except once in a great while. Whenever I see a book compared to my beloved Rebecca I read the book and wonder if the author or the PR department had actually ever read Du Maurier's classic. And as for the Mexican Gothic comparison, after that book became a surprise hit every Gothic book coming out had to somehow be "like" it. Here's the thing though, Mexican Gothic wasn't that good, whereas this book is. Oh my, they really delivered on the "same but better." I should find those PR people and apologize for how I've always trashed them for their cunning deceptions. It's their job after all... I've even been known to do it! The reason The Hacienda beats Mexican Gothic hands down is Isabel Cañas didn't complicate this story with mushrooms and what have you. She went for the standard tropes of the Gothic genre, dead first wife, hostile family, lonely outsider newlywed, recalcitrant servants, haunted house, conflicted priest, forbidden romance, and wrote these tropes to the highest standard. There isn't much original here, but it is so well crafted, so well drawn out, that you will love it completely. The story of Beatriz is propulsive. How will she survive? I kept turning the pages late into the night. I could see it all before me and yet somehow it maintained my interest. The Hacienda has all the goodness of a true Gothic haunted house story paired with what it means to belong and want a home. And that's where it set itself above the tropes, that's where it was unique, in Beatriz's desire for a place of her own. Her family had been cast out and degraded and she took the first opportunity she had to break free. Yes, it was a dangerous decision in the end, but who wouldn't risk it all to find their place in the world? To finally feel safe? I know I would, wouldn't you?
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