Book Review: The Haunting of Las Lágrimas by W. M. Cleese

“You may break, you may shatter the vase, if you will,
But the scent of the roses will hang around it still.”

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In winter 1913, young Englishwoman Ursula Kelp relocates to Buenos Aires to assume the position of head gardener at the long-abandoned Las Lágrimas estate. She’s tasked with restoring the once-glorious gardens, a challenge she undertakes out of necessity, disregarding numerous warnings of hauntings, tragedies, and curses as she travels deep into the vast South American grasslands. But when she experiences bizarre and unsettling occurrences that intensify as the days pass, she begins to question reality and the truth behind the rumors, realizing she’s trapped herself in a dangerous situation.

The Haunting of Las Lágrimas (“the House of Tears”) is a mesmerizing slice of gothic perfection that captivates, haunts, and horrifies in equal measure. Imbued with a fantastic sense of menace, foreboding, and mystery, it’s an atmospheric tale littered with gruesome truths and fascinating lore. Set amid the unforgiving Argentinian Pampas, which comes equipped with its own treacherous and deadly mythos, the estate’s remote location is an exercise in isolation complete with nature-ravaged lands, time-worn ruins, tragedy-steeped histories, and a strange, sprawling, logic- and time-defying forest.

Wracked with grief, Ursula is lonely and isolated, estranged from her family and their conventional demands, and exists in a state of constant mourning for her deceased grandfather and the life she could have led. She’s an outcast used, gaslit, manipulated, and abused: a defenseless loner inundated by the locale’s grisly backstory and a vulnerable, powerless female whose competence and intelligence are questioned at every turn. Sustained by memories of her grandfather — who understood and encouraged her, fostered her love of gardening, and inspired her pursuit of independence — she’s forever displaced and disappointed, a dismal and devastating existence that ultimately forces her into a harrowing fight for survival.

The novel is stacked with terrifying sequences, sinister supernatural echoes, and riveting liminal elements: visceral sights, sounds, feelings, settings, smells, and powerful and intriguing possession facets; spectral scenes and figures; cinematic moments of horror and chilling instances of realization; and, of course, evil, selfish, villainous, gaslighting men. It’s a gripping and horrifying chronicle where past overshadows present and history blackens future, a story filled with longing and loneliness, desperation and desolation, lies and abuse, racism and misogyny, manipulation and deception, cruelty and carnage. One where man commits atrocities at whim and the past refuses to remain dead and silent. It’s an utterly horrific, heart-pounding, and haunting experience that easily earns a spot on this reader’s favorites list.

🖤Amanda