Get ready for a raw, visceral horror reading experience in Don’t Leave Her Alone. It’s the debut novel of Spanish author Desirée de Fez, and it boldly confronts the shadow side of womanhood. The story unfolds in unexpected ways and blends horror, fantasy, and magical realism, building up to an incredible climax.
The narrative’s main protagonists are a mother named Carmen and her two adult daughters, Alba and Diana. It’s set in Barcelona, Spain, and takes place over a period of a few days leading up to Christmas. The dynamic between the three women is such a whirlwind and the catalyst that triggers the phenomena they experience simultaneously.
Alba and Diana are both married with kids. Alba is very dependent on her mother and doesn’t like to do anything alone; Carmen is ready to be at her daughter’s beck and call. Diana, on the other hand, doesn’t get the same support or attention from her mom, and it understandably frustrates her.
It starts with Alba being determined to get her hands on a particular item for one of her children for Christmas. She and Carmen head to the mall, where she has an unsettling encounter with a pair of older women who she claims give her the evil eye. When she shares what happened with her mother and Diana, they’re unsure what to make of it. From there, a series of hectic events ensue that lay bare how tormented yet connected the three of them are.
Things take an odd turn when Carmen, Alba, and Diana each experience a painful sensation and deep gashes on their stomachs that appear out of nowhere. Then, Alba goes missing before Christmas when she attempts another visit to the mall to get her gifts. The plot gets darker and stranger from there.
It’s apparent how intentional Desirée de Fez is in how she portrays her characters. I have to admit that I found myself getting so frustrated with Alba in the first half of the book. I felt angry for Diana and upset with Carmen for enabling Alba. The author has created protagonists that elicit a reaction and make you want to reach your arms through the pages and shake them! When an author can ignite that kind of emotion in a reader, it makes the story more enriching.
All the more intriguing, though, is how de Fez explores the deep-seated anxieties that haunt women, wives, and mothers. How much of one’s identity is lost to motherhood and marriage, and what harm can it cause if a mother and wife loses her autonomy? Alba, Diana, and Carmen are playing the roles they’ve been conditioned by society to play, and they suddenly realize it’s ripping them apart inside…literally and figuratively.
It turns out the blood-curdling wounds the three women get on their bellies show up to awaken them rather than cause pain. However, there is a lot of torment that’s endured, and it’s riveting how the conscious and subconscious meld together.
The author also has a captivating way of describing the mutilation on their bodies. Maybe it’s de Fez’s experience working with film production companies, but the scenes where she describes the lacerations are quite vivid and alive. I’m a fan of body horror, and this book doesn’t hold back on giving gritty details.
It’s important to note that the male characters take a backseat in the story. Alba and Diana’s husbands are more like helpless bystanders who don’t know how to handle what they’re witnessing. They’re unable to grasp the transformation their wives are going through, and it highlights a disconnect.
“My book is a blend of everything I’ve learned over the years, my love for fantasy and horror, and my need to use everything I know about those genres to tell a story that is deeply connected to my own life and to the lives of the women in my family. I also wanted to be part of a group of women creators I really admire who, through literature and film, have been showing in recent years that horror and fantasy are powerful genres for addressing the things that concern us all.”
—Desirée de Fez
I enjoyed how de Fez harnesses the supernatural to explore themes about femininity and a woman’s role as daughter, wife, and mother. She exposes the horrors that can manifest inside the psyche when you lose touch with the most important parts of yourself. By the end, I had a newfound appreciation for the characters that I didn’t have at the start. But the author definitely takes you on a journey to get to that point. The pace and the action deliver an unnerving energy, making you wonder if these women are going to be better or worse off in the end.
Don’t Leave Her Alone by Desirée de Fez releases October 13th. If you enjoy horror literature and stories that blur the lines between the supernatural and reality, I recommend it.
Where to Stalk
Don’t Leave Her Alone on Penguin Random House
