The Daughter of Doctor Moreau
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by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Publication date: July 19, 2022
Publisher: Del Rey
Hardcover: 320 Pages
Publisher Description
Carlota Moreau: A young woman growing up on a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of a researcher who is 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 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 live in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Dr. 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.
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is both a dazzling historical novel and a daring science fiction journey.
Quick Review
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a master storyteller, and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is no exception. This novel deftly blends elements of historical fiction and science fiction to create an absorbing journey. Moreno-Garcia’s vivid descriptions of the Yucatán jungle, coupled with her well-developed characters, make The Daughter of Doctor Moreau an unforgettable experience. The story of Carlota, her father’s creations, and the arrival of Eduardo are richly detailed and gripping. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a captivating narrative full of science, love, intrigue, and suspense.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House Publishing through NetGalley. The opinions in this review are completely my own.
About the author
Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of the novels Velvet Was the Night, Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow, and a bunch of other books. She has also edited several anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award–winning She Walks in Shadows (a.k.a. Cthulhu’s Daughters). She has been nominated for the Locus Award for her work as an editor and has won the British Fantasy Award and the Locus Award for her work as a novelist.
Read more about Silvia ON HER WEBSITE
Praise
“The imagination of Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a thing of wonder, restless and romantic, fearless in the face of genre, embracing the polarities of storytelling— the sleek and the bizarre, wild passions and deep hatreds—with cool equanimity.”—The New York Times
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“If there are two things I love in this world, it’s contemporary reimaginings of Victorian era horror and sci-fi, and joyful genre mashups in literature. Thank the Lord, then, for Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the author of the 1970s Mexico City noir Velvet Was the Night and the postcolonial gothic romance Mexican Gothic, who brings her chameleonic powers to bear on H. G. Wells’s 1896 ‘exercise in youthful blasphemy.’”—Lit Hub
“Lush, eerie, and compulsively readable, this story got under my skin and stayed there.”—Alexis Henderson author of The Year of the Witching and House of Hunger
“Moreno-Garcia’s previous work has spanned genres—horror in Mexican Gothic (2020), noir in Velvet Was the Night (2021)—and in this volume, she deftly combines fantasy, adventure, and even romance. A fun literary remix.”—Kirkus Reviews