Oct 15

Oct 15 The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Publisher: Del Rey
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

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Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

A lavish historical drama reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico.

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.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is both a dazzling historical novel and a daring science fiction journey.

TL;DR Review

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is a smart, atmospheric, anticolonial / feminist reimagining of an H.G. Wells classic. It’s not the fastest paced, but it is very good.

For you if: You like gothic sci-fi novels that dip a toe into body horror.

Full Review

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau has been sitting on my shelf since it came out, but its nomination for the 2023 Hugo Award bumped it to the top of my list. And I’m glad it did! This book is smart and well done, and I enjoyed it.

This book is a loose reimagining of a classic sci-fi novel, The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells. That book is about a shipwrecked man who bears witness to Moreau’s vivisection experiments, which attempt to turn animals into humans. This one places the story on the Yucatan Peninsula during the war between its indigenous people and colonizers, gives Moreau a daughter and makes her — and the caretaker, Montgomery — the focus, and replaces the shipwrecked visitor with the son of their wealthy patron. It takes the original’s themes around morality and man playing god, and adds colonization and misogyny into the mix.

I haven’t read The Island of Doctor Moreau, but I did read a summary before starting this, which was enough (and a choice I highly recommend). This book’s brilliance is in the way it clearly pays homage to the original while also reclaiming it to say something wholly new and also critique that work itself. Without a glimpse into that conversation, I don’t think this book would be as engaging or impactful.

Regardless though, it’s not the fastest paced, but it’s extremely atmospheric and leans into the gothic, light body horror vibes. Perfect for readers who don’t shy away from the grotesque but also don’t love full-on horror. The audiobook was also a fantastic accompaniment!

I’d be happy to see this book take the Hugo!