But even he might not be enough to battle the darkness.įar from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz’s doom.īeatriz, a mestiza woman, is devastated by her father’s death during the Mexican War of Independence, which also led to her home being destroyed. No ordinary priest, Andrés will have to rely on his skills as a witch to fight off the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda and protect the woman for whom he feels a powerful, forbidden attraction. And no one there will save her.ĭesperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. Rodolfo’s sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz’s fears-but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? Why does the cook burn copal incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark the doorway with strange symbols? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano?īeatriz only knows two things for certain: Something is wrong with the hacienda. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz’s sleep. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost.īut Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security that his estate in the countryside provides. A marriage of convenience, a distant husband, a large estate where the owner knows less about its history than those who maintain the estate…those elements and more come together in an ethereal and creepy fashion in Isabel Cañas’s debut novel, The Hacienda.ĭuring the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father was executed and her home destroyed.

The hacienda isabel cañas