THE HACIENDA

Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca in this debut supernatural suspense novel set in years following the Mexican War of Independence.

In the overthrow of the government, Beatriz's father is executed and her home destroyed. With no other choice, she and her mother must rely on the begrudging charity of her uncle and his vicious wife, who never approved of Beatriz's father's lower casta. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz thinks only of the security his estate in the countryside will provide, ignoring the rumors surrounding his first wife's demise and his allegiance to the man who murdered her father. She will have her own home again, no matter the price.

Unfortunately, Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she envisioned. Juana, Rodolfo's sister, has neglected the house in favor of the fields. Rodolfo returns to the capital, promising to send anything Beatriz requests to rehabilitate the hacienda. But the house has ideas of its own.

Before long, visions and voices claw at Beatriz, stealing her sleep, and the weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Juana scoffs at Beatriz's claims, but then why does she refuse to enter the building at night? Why does the cook burn copal incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark its doorway with strange symbols? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano? Deep in her bones, Beatriz knows - something is wrong with San Isidro.

Desperate for help, she seizes upon the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, it will take Andrés's skills as a witch to battle the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda. But he's powerless against the all-too-mortal danger that looms with the return of Rodolfo. Far from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz's doom.

With lush, atmospheric writing, spine-tingling chills, awe-inspiring witchcraft, and an unexpected romance, THE HACIENDA is perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic and weaves in issues of class divisions, colorism, family dysfunction, and religious oppression.

Isabel Cañas is a literary historian, translator, and author. Homeschooled and mostly left to her own devices as a child, she began writing fantasy at the age of eleven. She is a PhD candidate of late medieval Islamic history and literature and can often be found wandering the Persian poetry section of the university library or in the Oriental Institute, notebook in hand, daydreaming about Mongol queens and long-dead warlords. Isabel knows nine languages and has lived in Mexico, Scotland, Egypt, Turkey, and Jordan, but now calls New York City home.