The Possession of Alba Díaz

After loving The Hacienda a few years ago, I’ve been eager to read more from Isabel Cañas. This week she released her third novel, The Possession of Alba Díaz. Set in a mining town outside Zacatecas in 1765, it follows Alba Díaz as she gets to know the family of her new fiancé. It’ll be a marriage of convenience, but one that could give her some freedom. But upon arriving in the mining town, she instantly feels not quite herself. The only person who notices, or who can seem to help her, is Elías: a convict from Sevilla, someone forbidden, but someone who is also strangely alluring. But with demons and debts and no future for the two of them, how can they escape their circumstances alive?

What I Liked:

Demons, the occult, and a dark book.
Religion as good or evil.
Elías and his dark past.
Alba and her insistence on owning herself.
The demon’s intrusive speaking.
Poetic, nightmarish descriptions of scenes, especially as the book progresses.

Final Thoughts

The Possession of Alba Díaz is the kind of horror novel that sucks you in with its flourished prose, romantic atmosphere, and gory darkness. It’s mesmerizing, but it also calls attention to important topics like how religion is used, colonialism, and a woman’s autonomy over her life trajectory. I really enjoyed Elías and Alba’s characters and the way their love story blended in with a tale of pure horror. Isabel Cañas has a vivd style and I’m excited to keep reading her books.

Special thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy The Possession of Alba Díaz here – it’s available as a hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas
Audience	Adult
Genre	Horror; Gothic; Historical Romance
Setting	Mexico
Number of Pages	384
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	August 19, 2025
Publisher	Berkley

Official Summary

When a demonic presence awakens deep in a Mexican silver mine, the young woman it seizes must turn to the one man she shouldn’t trust…from bestselling author Isabel Cañas.

In 1765, plague sweeps through Zacatecas. Alba flees with her wealthy merchant parents and fiancé, Carlos, to his family’s isolated mine for refuge. But safety proves fleeting as other dangers soon bare their teeth: Alba begins suffering from strange hallucinations, sleepwalking, and violent convulsions. She senses something cold lurking beneath her skin. Something angry. Something wrong.

Elías, haunted by a troubled past, came to the New World to make his fortune and escape his family’s legacy of greed. Alba, as his cousin’s betrothed, is none of his business. Which is of course why he can’t help but notice the growing tension between them every time she enters the room…and why he notices her deteriorate when the demon’s thirst for blood gets stronger.

In the fight for her life, Alba and Elías become entangled with the occult, the Church, long-kept secrets, and each other… not knowing that one of these things will spell their doom.

About the Author

Credit: Kilian Blum

Isabel Cañas is a Mexican American speculative fiction writer. After having lived in Mexico, Scotland, Egypt, Turkey, and New York City, among other places, she has settled in the Pacific Northwest. She holds a doctorate in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and writes fiction inspired by her research and her heritage.