Book comparison: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Northanger Abbey

For January we will be reading Mexican Gothic by Silvia Garcia-Moreno and comparing with Austen's Northanger Abbey. Feel free to bring light snacks and drinks in closed containers. We'll meet in our usual room at the Central Branch of the Howard County Library in Columbia and likely relocate to a restaurant nearby to socialize after the official discussion is over. We hope you can join us!

Here are some questions to guide your reading (thanks ChatGPT):

1. How does each novel use classic Gothic elements (creepy houses, secrets, vulnerable heroines)?
   Did you feel the Gothic atmosphere was meant to scare you, make you think, or make you laugh in each case?
2. How do Noemí and Catherine differ in how they respond to fear and uncertainty?
   What do their reactions tell us about their personalities and the worlds they live in?
3. Imagination vs. reality is central to both books—how does this play out differently?
   In Northanger Abbey, Catherine often imagines danger where there is none; in Mexican Gothic, Noemí doubts danger that turns out to be very real. How did this reversal affect your reading experience?
4. What role does the house play in each story?
   How did High Place and the Tilney estate shape the mood, power dynamics, and sense of threat (or misunderstanding)?
5. How do the books portray control and authority, especially by older men?
   Compare General Tilney with the Doyle family—whose power felt more unsettling, and why?
6. What did you notice about how each author is responding to the Gothic genre itself?
   Northanger Abbey pokes fun at Gothic novels, while Mexican Gothic reclaims and reshapes the genre. Which approach did you enjoy more, and why?

***Not an official Howard County Library System Event.***