The Daughter of Doctor Moreau
Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - From the bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a lavish historical drama reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico. "This is historical science fiction at its best: a dreamy reimagining of a classic story with vivid descriptions of lush jungles and feminist themes. Some light romance threads through the heavier ethical questions concerning humanity."--Library Journal (starred review) "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 (Editors' Choice)FINALIST FOR THE HUGO AWARD - ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, NPR, Polygon, Tordotcom, Paste, CrimeReads, Booklist 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.
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Community Reviews
The pacing of the first half of the novel was slow. I think my knowledge of Doctor Moreau meant that learning about the hybrids was expected and not interesting enough to hold my attention. I pushed through and eventually, the story picked up. I did enjoy the latter half and felt as if I knew the characters well and liked most of them. The ending was satisfying
We liked the easter eggs for the original Island of Dr. Moreau, the "classic novel" feel/tone, and the relationships between all of the doctor's creatures and employees.
I haven't read the original from H. G. Wells that this book was inspired from, so I came to it with no expectations. Actually, I had no idea what it was about other than it was a SMG book. I got it the day of release, excited to digest this in hours.
Yeah, no.
This book took me 2 months to finish, I dedicated myself to painfully reading a few pages every other day, because it was so boring. I don't know what this book strives to be, a mimic of 19...read more
Yeah, no.
This book took me 2 months to finish, I dedicated myself to painfully reading a few pages every other day, because it was so boring. I don't know what this book strives to be, a mimic of 19...read more
Content warning for medical scenarious, genetic experimentation, abuse, sexual violence, manipulation, murder, and related topics. I really want to like Moreno-Garcia's works, but I've tried three of them now and can't seem to get into them. Maybe it's the pacing? Despite the wide variety in genre conventions, her books are typically slow-burn and that isn't my favorite. I hadn't known about the inspiration for this novel (H.G. Wells' The Island ...read more
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