Book Review: The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Vivid, Fascinating and Rebellious

I will admit two things from the start. One, I have never read The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells. Two, I have never read anything by Silvia Moreno Garcia.

My first admission stops me from being able to attest to Moreno-Garcia's success in a retelling. Therefore, this review will only be from the point of view of such absence in knowledge and will be looked at from the my ignorant eyes of the original tale. My second admission stops me from being able to recall anything about Moreno Garcias previous books. I think everyone probably knows her best from her novel, Mexican Gothic, a book that still sits on my TBR. After hearing so many wonderful things about that book, I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to read her newest release.

Disclaimers now aside, The Daughter of Doctor Moreau was weird. It was not a bad weird but a weird that kept me uneasy and skeptical. Doctor Moreau and his daughter live secluded, far from civilization- their only companions being Doctor Moreau’s fabricated hybrids. See, Doctor Moreau is no ordinary Doctor. After being estranged in France, he found himself in a situation to continue his personal work of “perfecting humanity” through regenerative and experimental science. These hybrids were that of human and animal creation; most very rarely a success, more often just sick, pained animal crossbreeds.

Moreau’s daughter, Carlota, was born sickly. Doctor Moreau was able to keep her alive through continuous treatments of jaguar gemmules to keep her own pain at bay. She is not just his daughter, but his most successful experiments. (Gemmules = “An asexually produced mass of cells, which are capable of developing into a new organism..”) She is a subservient daughter; humble, timid, and kind. She’s only ever known her home in Yaxaktun. Life has always been simple. Reading from her perspective was wondrous. She truly loves her father, his hybrids, and her home. Her voice is romantic and therefore the majority of her experiences throughout the book are bright, vivid, beautiful and told with care. She was a meek and charming character who truly blossomed in the book.

Fifty percent of the book is told from Carlota's perspective and the other fifty told from Montgomery’s. Montgomery is 15 years Carlota’s elder, come to Yaxaktun in desperation of a job and in the lowest part of his life. Where Carlota is sunshine and positivity, Montgomery is her perfect counter part- gloom and brood. Montgomery is very much sad and broken. An alcoholic with a tragic past of love lost, he is there to exist and work only. Montgomery and Carlota's povs perfectly overlap every time, wonderfully blending from one to the other. Each chapter transition was seamless. Montgomery is seasoned and therefore has a more stable observation where Carlota is ignorantly living in her romanticized world.

There were only three things that threw me off in this book. The hybrids being one. While Lupe and Cochito were wonderful characters, the fact that they were hybrids of big cats and humans was sort of repulsive. I have read fantasy books with wild, hybrid creatures and it never bothered me. I never thought twice about it, actually. So what was so different this time around? It was the experimentation of man on creatures for self-pride at the expense of the living. Searching for perfection whilst quite honestly, only creating misery. This isn't necessarily knock on the book at all. Authors are artists and art is supposed to make you feel something albeit happiness, sadness, or (in this specific case) discomfort. As previously mentioned, this book was loosely based off of HG Wells', an author known for making his readers feel discomfort, The Island of Doctor Moreau. In this case, Moreno-Garcia more than excelled in her adaptation! Personally, I feel we should feel discomforted by scientists disturbing nature in the name of science and experimentation.

The second thing would be the age difference between Montgomery and Carlota. I'm not a fan of the age gap trope. Especially in this case where he met her as a minor of fourteen years in age. I can't say more to this without giving it away but three chapters in and you understand Montgomery is a bit infatuated with Carlota so I'm not giving much away by the previous statement. What comes from that is different and needs to be experienced by the reader. It wasn't terribly considering the relationship's growth but it did throw me off about fifty percent of the book.

Thirdly, was the conflict in Mexico during the mid 1800's between the European descendants and the native Mayan population. I feel like I would've loved to see more of this conflict as a main plot. It however seemed more as a background conflict to further vilify the Lizalde family (the owners of many haciendas throughout Mexico, including the Moreau residence). It was mentioned here and there in passing and played a large role in the end but not enough to feel completely present through the book. Considering the last chapter is a description of the author's intention of the novel and it focusses mainly on her original inspiration of this book being the Caste War of Yucatan in 1847, it missed the mark for me. It's not that these points mentioned in the epilogue were not represented. They are partially there, key word being partially. I just felt this book would have thrived more if it was more of a focal point.

Overall, I was impressed with Moreno-Garcia's writing style. It's beautiful and captivating. I didn't devour it as I had expected but I would never say it didn't hold my interest, it just never fully enthrall me. I wasn't captivated. I was intrigued. My favorite part of this book was Carlota. She was beautiful of the mind, not just appearance. She had a fascinating tale. For being an adult, she very much felt like a child at the beginning. Though, at the end, she became a woman. Her innocence was not her down fall but her strength. She loved with a ferocity that captured the hearts of her piers and I. Her very existence was a rebellion. She was breathtaking and a complete joy to accompany throughout the book.

Would I recommend this book? I would. It is slow, it is weird but it is vivid and fascinating. If your curiosity gets the best of you here, follow it. I give it 3.5/4 stars.