The Haunting of Alejandra
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
The story of a woman haunted by the Mexican folk demon La Llorona as she unravels the dark secrets of her family history in this ravishing and provocative horror novel from the author of Goddess of Filth.
Alejandra no longer knows who she is. To her husband, she is a wife, and to her children, a mother. But Alejandra is struggling and times of despair, a ghostly vision appears to her, a crying woman in a ragged white gown. When Alejandra begins exploring her family's history, she learns that tragedy is not the only thing she shares with her ancestors. Because the crying woman was with them, too…
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Castro (Mestiza Blood) puts a unique twist on the Mexican legend of La Llorona in this eerie contemporary horror story of a woman's struggle against both her inner demons and the demons of her family's past. From the outside, Alejandra has the perfect life, complete with a well-off husband, a nice house in Philadelphia, and three healthy children. But on the inside, Alejandra has lost her sense of identity and finds herself falling deeper into a hole of darkness and despair. Alejandra fears she's losing her mind when she starts hearing voices and sees the ghostly apparition of a crying woman in a white dress. She reaches out to Melanie Ortiz, a therapist and curandera, and together they uncover that the curse of La Llorona, the crying woman, has plagued the women in Alejandra's family for generations. Alejandra must draw on her own inner strength and the strength of her ancestors, who readers meet in flashbacks, to break the cycle of torment. Castro cleverly uses Mexican folklore to shine a light on multigenerational trauma, but the jumping timelines and stilted dialogue create a level of remove from the more visceral chills. Still, horror fans who prefer psychological scares will find plenty to enjoy here.
