I am a fan of Moreno-Garcia’s writing – see my reviews of Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow, Certain Dark Things, The Beautiful Ones, Prime Meridian and Velvet Was the Night. So when I saw this one appear on Netgalley, I immediately requested it and was delighted to be approved.
BLURB: Carlota Moreau: a young woman, growing up in a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of either a genius, or a madman.
Montgomery Laughton: a melancholic overseer with a tragic past and a propensity for alcohol. An outcast who assists Dr. Moreau with his scientific experiments, which are financed by the Lizaldes, owners of magnificent haciendas and plentiful coffers.
The hybrids: the fruits of the Doctor’s labor, destined to blindly obey their creator and remain in the shadows. A motley group of part human, part animal monstrosities.
All of them living in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Doctor Moreau’s patron, who will unwittingly begin a dangerous chain reaction. For Moreau keeps secrets, Carlota has questions, and in the sweltering heat of the jungle, passions may ignite.
REVIEW: Silvia Moreno-Garcia is very comfortable writing across an impressive range of genres and styles. The one common theme throughout all her books is that they either feature Mexican protagonists, or they are set in or around Mexico – and this one is no exception. While the original story by H.G. Wells is set on an island, this version is set on the Yucatán Peninsula on an isolated estate well off the beaten track. Moreno-Garcia is masterful at scene-setting and the world-building in this story is no exception. Through both protagonists, we get a vivid sense of the intense, humid heat, vegetation and creatures inhabiting the estate – particularly when in Carlota’s viewpoint as she loves the place with a deep-seated abiding sense of belonging. And as the story progresses, we begin understand just why she is so very comfortable living in the heart of the wilderness.
Those who have come to Moreno-Garcia’s writing after having read Mexican Gothic or Certain Dark Things might have found this a slightly frustrating read. While readers who have also read Velvet Was the Night or Prime Meridian will be aware that the author is equally capable of delivering a slow-burn story full of pent tension and an increasing sense of wrongness as she is of providing full-on action. That said, there is action – an explosion of violence that I found all the more shocking due to the slow build-up. I enjoyed the manner in which the climax also provides answers regarding Dr Moreau, which expose him for the real monster in this story.
The characterisation of both main protagonists is pitch perfect. Each of them is flawed and trapped. I was rooting for both of them to find a way out of the murky wrongness caused by Moreau’s poisonous influence – and was also relieved that Moreno-Garcia didn’t go down the predictable route that I feared she would. Their relationship is beautifully nuanced, complicated and utterly believable. As ever, the pages turned themselves in this lush, memorable read and is highly recommended for those who like their historical science fiction adventures finely written in a vivid setting shot through with tension. While I obtained an arc of The Daughter of Dr Moreau from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10
be spoilt by prior knowledge of one of the main plotpoints. Suffice to say that once more, this remarkable writer has pulled me into her colourful world. I really liked and sympathised with Casiopea, who is the Cinderella-type character – however, don’t go away with the impression that she is anything like the Disneyfied saccharine character who coos over mice and trills to birds. Casiopea is much too coolly self-possessed to do such a girly thing. Indeed, it is her unspoken defiance and evident intelligence that nettles her unpleasant cousin, Martin – how dare the poverty-stricken drudge be their grandfather’s favourite? He is only too aware that if she’d been born a boy, she would have inherited the family fortune and even now, she forgets her place to answer back when he taunts her. So when a particular event takes place after she opens the box and she is offered a new life away from the family home, Casiopea is happy to leave without a backward look.
grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own. Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room – and opens it…
Literary caterer Letitia ‘Tish’ Tarragon is preparing her English Secret Garden-themed luncheon for Coleton Creek’s annual garden club awards, but when she is taken on a tour of some of the top contenders with the garden club’s president, Jim Ainsley, Tish is surprised at how seriously the residents take the awards – and how desperate they are to win. Wealthy, retired businessman Sloane Shackleford has won the coveted best garden category five years in a row, but he and his Bichon Frise, Biscuit, are universally despised. When Sloane’s bludgeoned body is discovered in his pristine garden, Tish soon learns that he was disliked for reasons that go beyond his green fingers. Have the hotly contested awards brought out a competitive and murderous streak in one of the residents?
friend calls for help. Robert’s daughter Gillian is about to be married, and he is afraid she’ll fall prey to the ancient family curse. Arriving in rural Yorkshire, Ishmael and his partner Penny learn that the vicar who was to perform the ceremony has been found dead in the church, hanging from his own bell rope. With no clues, no evidence and no known motive, many locals believe the curse is responsible. Or is someone just using it as a smokescreen for murder? With the wedding due to take place the following day, Ishmael has just a few hours to uncover the truth. But his investigations are hampered by sudden flashes of memory: memories of the time before he was human. What is it Ishmael’s former self is trying to tell him … ?
Keepers think the Igniters caused the plague. Igniters think the Keepers did. But all Thomas knows is that the Stone Plague infecting his eye is spreading. And if he doesn’t do something soon, he’ll be a lifeless statue. So when his Keeper father, Guy Fawkes, invites him to join the Gunpowder Plot—claiming it will put an end to the plague—Thomas is in.
Amelia dreams of Mars. The Mars of the movies and the imagination, an endless bastion of opportunities for a colonist with some guts. But she’s trapped in Mexico City, enduring the drudgery of an unkind metropolis, working as a rent-a-friend, selling her blood to old folks with money who hope to rejuvenate themselves with it, enacting a fractured love story. And yet there’s Mars, at the edge of the silver screen, of life. It awaits her.
Brainfluff 