Rodolfo’s sister, Juana, refuses to enter the house at night, and the cook marks the kitchen doorway with strange symbols. Beatriz is quick to order furniture and address the state of the garden, all in the hopes of her disproving mother visiting. Soon after arriving at Hacienda San Isidro, Rodolfo returns to work in the capital. Beatriz claims the Hacienda San Isidro as her sanctuary, ignoring rumors of the demise of the previous woman of the house. Following her father’s death and her home’s destruction, a desperate need for security leads Beatriz to a wealthy husband, Rodolfo. The Hacienda, set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, conjures a battle of the soul. In Isabel Cañas’ debut novel, dread and unease snake up the spine of both the reader and characters in a tone as haunting as the mothers of gothic stories like Elizabeth Gaskell and Daphne du Maurier. Lost to the wilds of war, death, and deceit, The Hacienda ensnares readers in its malevolent maw.
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