77th book of 2022
An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets.
After receiving a frantic letter from her newlywed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find – her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.
Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.
And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.
CW: incest, blood, gore, sexism, violence, forced marriage, sexual assault
Rating
Review
I finally finished this book after two years. When I started it, I was so uncomfortable reading it, and I simply stopped when I ended chapter six. However, it was much easier as I now read out of my comfort zone. I cheated a little as I decided to re-read the part I had already read, but I used the audiobook for that.
As for the previous book I read (God of Jade and Shadow, review here), the atmosphere is crucial in this book. First, the era the story is set in, you have a ton of details about the clothes, the transports and how the society worked. Then, you have the little town, which completely contrasts Mexico City and this strange manor that is absolutely retrieved from the world and stopped in another, older era. Everything about this manor is creepy; they even have a clearly abandoned cemetery. Everything makes it eery, and you understand that you have something off with this place. If I could colour it, I would give only cold colours to this manor and warm colours to the city set below.
The characters of this family are the same, and the rules of this manor are so strange and contrast with the nature of Noemi. She is a vibrant socialist from Mexico City; all the things about her are the total opposite of the other characters, even her cousin, who was kind of like her but in a more gentle way, started to fade after entering this place. The most disturbing was uncle Howard; as you know from the start, he has a big problem, like the only thing in his head is the superiority of a race and how to definite it. And the more you read the book, the more you see his madness. I was on the verge of vomiting when I had all the explanations of the secrets of this family, like how!
Even if the story isn’t something outbreaking, there is something so compelling to the author’s writing that when you start one of her books, you can’t stop reading it until you’ve finished it.
Liz.
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