I read this book, originally published in 1898, and designed it for a book design book in grad school. It's rather dark--the protagonist is biracial, and her father is abusive. I'm pretty sure the author was white, and the father is a stereotypical Mexican man, so... problematic. But it had some other elements I liked, such as the protagonist and setting and atmospheric, gothic elements. ( )

As predictable as the novel actually is, I actually enjoyed it because I was not entirely sure how it was going to end. And I must say, the ending took me by surprise as much as "A Rose for Emily" did when I read that short story for the first time. If nothing else, this book should be read just for the ending. Besides that, this novel is chock-full of irony, and that's always fun to look back on after getting over the initial shock of the ending. ( )