Review: 'Silver Nitrate' by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Pub. Date: 7/18/2023
Publisher: Quercus Books; Jo Fletcher Books
A breathtaking blend of Mexican horror movies and dark occultism from the bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.
Montserrat has always been overlooked. She's a talented sound editor, but she's left out of the boys' club running the film industry in '90s Mexico City. And she's all but invisible to her best friend Tristán, a charming if faded soap opera star, even though she's been in love with him since childhood.Then Tristán discovers his new neighbour is the cult horror director Abel Urueta, and the legendary auteur claims he has a way to change their lives - even if his tales of a Nazi occultist imbuing magic into highly volatile silver nitrate stock sounds like sheer fantasy. The magic film was never finished, which is why, Urueta swears, his career vanished overnight. He is cursed.
Now the director wants Montserrat and Tristán to help him shoot the missing scene and lift the curse . . . but Montserrat soon notices a dark presence following her.
As they work together to unravel the mystery of the film and the obscure occultist who once roamed their city, Montserrat and Tristán might just find out that sorcerers and magic are not only the stuff of movies . . .
Ever since Mexican Gothic, and in her short stories before then, Silvia Moreno-Garcia has used her writing as a chance to impact of Mexico's colonial legacy. She has explored it through the haunted house in Mexican Gothic and through the exploits of science in The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. In Silver Nitrate she engages with this theme through the history of the occult. By engaging with how German occultists of the 20th century based their ideas of magic and power in the insidious web of race theory and Arian superiority, Moreno-Garcia is able to explore the impact of such thinking on the receiving culture. The way in which some of her characters are seduced by the idea of power, even if it comes with accepting racist ideology, is fascinating to observe. Her research on this for the novel seems to be quite detailed but it is woven in without damaging the main plot or the main focus on Montserrat and Tristán. The way in which she also explores the allure of this power, in contrast to the position both Montserrat and Tristán find themselves in, with a focus on both classism and colourism, was really interesting to read. Through reading Moreno-Garcia's fiction, I've gained a whole new understanding of these themes and this history and how both play a role nowadays as well.
Montserrat works as a sound editor, except that she is getting fewer shifts every month and the Mexican film industry seems to be dying a slow and painful death. Tristán, her best friend since childhood, is suffering from an equal drought of work ever since an accident 10 years ago which left him slightly scarred and his reputation in tatters. But things may be turning around for both of them when Tristán meets his new neighbour, Abel Urueta, who directed a mysterious horror film in the '60s. Working with him on his film sees both Montserrat and Tristán drawn into a web of cult beliefs, old school racism, and magic. Is there a curse to be broken? And if yes, will breaking it bring them fame and fortune or just see them saddled with bad luck? Silver Nitrate is told largely through Montserrat's perspective, although Tristán's perspective also comes forward in some chapters. Montserrat's character is a delightful mix between angry, fearlessness, fascination, and desire. I had a real sense of who she was and it was really fun to witness her journey throughout the novel. Tristán is also a very interesting character but his flaws are a little closer to the surface which means I found myself wavering on him every few chapters. I was also very intrigued by the novel's ideas around the magic of film, of sharing an experience, of the power of signs. I definitely enjoyed how the tensions ramped up towards the final third of the book.
I have already praised Silvia Moreno-Garcia's writing in my other reviews, but it is worth saying again that her writing is at once very evocative and yet also incredibly readable. Moreno-Garcia has a real knack for creating imagery which feels at once symbolic and is yet also something you can immediately grasp. The way she works with film and sound in Silver Nitrate grabbed me straightaway and had me thinking about some experiences I have had watching films which left me changed. I also continue to enjoy the characters she crafts and how she takes certain Gothic genre staples and plays with them. The dual perspectives of the novel also really give the reader to chance to witness the relationship between her two main characters, how they see each other, how well they know each other. While romance is not at the heart of the novel, it is a constant motif thrumming in the back. One thing which kind of irked me about Silver Nitrate was that I felt like a lot of information would get unneccesarily repeated. So if, for example, Montserrat had heard something, this would get repeated almost verbatim at a later date when she relayed it to another character. While I fully appreciate the need for making certain connections etcetera clear, it happened a little too often for my liking which made me think that maybe an editor should have questioned whether it was necessary in every instance. But this is really a minor complaint which did nothing to lessen my enjoyment of the book.
I give this novel...
4 Universes!
Silver Nitrate is a love letter to Mexican cinema and to all that is gothically delightful. Silvia Moreno-Garcia continues to bewitch me with the stories she weaves and I can't wait to read more.
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