Book excerpt: CBC BOOKS CANADIAN FICTION BOOKS TO READ IN FALL 2024 “With a lush, tropical setting, an entrancing protagonist, and swirling ghosts that guide and subvert, Gonzalez has crafted a darkly romantic, immersive world.” — JENNILEE AUSTRIA-BONIFACIO, author of Reuniting with Strangers The House of the Spirits meets Mexican Gothic in a tale of love and betrayal, belonging and exile, and the supernatural forces that pervade life in the Philippines. The secrets of the house are the secrets of the heart. It begins with an act of betrayal that destroys the tenuous bonds of Celestina Errantes’s family. For years afterwards, Celestina longs for an escape from her unhappy home. Then an unexpected gift from her wealthy Lolo offers that chance: a long-forsaken property in Manila’s bohemian district, close to where ladies of the evening ply their trade. It is no place for a proper young woman, but this house, even with its ghosts, makes Celestina feel at home. Celestina tears into life, losing herself in the pleasures of the night, but soon finds that the emptiness within her is not easily filled. When finally a true chance at happiness promises to save her, a sinister voice from the past returns, threatening to destroy it all. A RARE MACHINES BOOK