#the daughter of doctor moreau

[judgeitbyitscover]

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau (2022) by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Cover art and illustrations by Marcela Bolivar

Subterranean Press, 2023

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.

[geekynerfherder]

'The Daughter Of Doctor Moreau' by Marcela Bolivar.

Cover art for the Subterranean Press edition of the novel, 'The Daughter Of Doctor Moreau', written by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

[cabeswaterdrowned]

“But she couldn’t rest because the paradox remained in her mind: that she must be a child to her father and also a grown woman. He wouldn’t let her grow, and yet he expected her to behave like a sophisticated, mature person. Moreau’s daughter was forever supposed to remain a girl; like the dolls that watched her intently. But she was restless; she felt as if she’d outgrown her skin and must molt.” 

(quote from The Daugher of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno Garcia) 

[caribeandthebooks]

Caribe's Read Around The World TBR - Part 2

Books set in Hispanic Latin American countries <3

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 60 – The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Last Hugo nomination on my list! And finished it just under the wire to have theoretically cast an informed vote if I was actually a worldcon member, even. Overall a fun read, if a bit meandering and unfocused – not going to be a new favourite or anything, but it had some ambition at least, the sort of thing that deserves to get considered for awards.

The story is set in the 1870s and follows Carlotta, the eponymous daughter of a disgraced French scientist who has found patronage from a Mexican oligarch on the Yucatan peninsula, and Montgomery, the majordomo and manager of the remote ranch that has been given over to Doctor Moreau for his experimentation. As might be inferred from the title, Moreau’s experiments are on the creation of human-animal hybrids, sold to his patron as a new and more docile workforce to replace the rebellious Maya who had previously farmed his haciendas. The plot, such as it is, revolves around Moreau scheming to marry Carlotta off to his patron’s son after his funding is threatened by lack of results, and then the fallout of a revelation that is I think supposed to be more of a twist than it was for me.

The actual meat of the book is in the relationships and the environment. Particularly the relationships between Carlotta and her father, between Carlotta and the hybrids, between Montgomery and the hybrids, and of course the love triangle between Carlotta, Moreau’s patron’s son, and Montgomery that consumes the better part of the book’s middle third. The way the environment is described it actually quite well done, I think – Carlotta is deeply in love with the little world she has grown up in, and that shows in the detailed and affectionate descriptions of all the nature around here.. Montgomery, on the other hand, really couldn’t care less.

I’ve never actually read the original H. G. Wells story, or seen any of the adaptations, so all I can bring to this is the vague understanding of it pop culture osmosis has gifted unto me. Which I think is all you really need – the book takes the basic conceit and Moreau’s name from the original story, but few other setting details and essentially none of the plot. Not necessarily a huge loss – the book’s Yucatan in the midst of the Caste War is a far more grounded, interesting, and, well, real setting than Wells’ island. Still, if you come looking for real retelling or something in more direct conversation with the original you might be disappointed.

The book is not, for genre taxonomy reasons that still annoy me, a Romance, but it’s still largely about romance as much as it is anything else. All the politics and intrigue and layers of manipulation around Carlotta’s potential marriage were quite fun, even if it ended exactly as you’d expect it too.

Anyway, the book wasn’t exactly riveting reading, but it sold the period setting and everyone’s characterizations well enough that I didn’t mind the meandering or lack of surprises. And, as I’m sure was very much intentional, did make me want to go expand my knowledge of the 19th century Yucatan beyond the ‘one-paragraph textbook summary’ level.

[geekynichelle]

Carlota: Oh my, this is just like Sleeping Beauty!!

Noemí: Yeah, yeah just like Beauty and the Seven Dwarves or something...

[do-you-ship-this-book-couple]

Do you ship...

[selkiemaidenfae]

books read in 2023: the daughter of doctor moreau by silvia moreno-garcia

✧✧✧✧

“if she’d been a siren luring him to the bottom of the sea, he would have followed. if she’d been a gorgon, he’d have let himself be turned into stone.”

[valiantvillain]

While I am absolutely enjoying The Daughter of Doctor Moreau I really wish Lupe could have gotten some POV chapters bc I think her perspective as a hybrid on the island who's constantly butting heads with the very sheltered Carlota and actively wants to leave would have added another fascinating layer to the story. Plus, Lupe is just fun and doesn't shy away from rubbing Carlota's nose in the fact that she's been willfully ignorant and naive the whole time. I think I really would have liked to see her inner thoughts and her small acts of rebellion throughout the story that we don't get to see through Carlota and Montgomery's perspectives for most of the book.

[judgingbooksbycovers]

Unused cover for

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

By Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Design by Tim Green.

[gennsoup]

For the world is a constant compromise, a greeting of the other and of yourself.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

[elyjm1313]

More thoughts on The Daughter of Doctor Moreau (which I kinda want to read again because it feels like I just flew through it the first time--I did finish it in less than 3 days).

Spoilers below the cut

The more I think about it, the more the hybrids feel like a metaphor for the colorism that can (and does) exist in mixed families. Obv (I'm mixed, myself) the metaphor is not saying literally that people with darker skin tones and features are more animalistic, that's stupid eugenicist crap (feels like I have to make that explicit on the internet thanks to so much bad faith discourse).

From a literary standpoint, Carlota, in particular, feels a lot like what it's like the be the more white presenting kid in a family. She's trotted out by her father as some sort of prize, receives privileges (like access to the laboratory, fine clothing, not having to work, etc) that the other hybrids don't, doesn't understand Lupe's struggles and frustrations with not being able to live openly and freely like the humans do, and she is seen by her father as a means to raising her family up out of what he considers a lowly position. Right down to Eduardo's father convincing him that it would be more appropriate for him to just keep Loti as a mistress instead of marrying her.

The more I think about it the more this feels like an examination and deconstruction of the idea of "mejorar la raza" (For those who don't know, that's a foul relic of an idea left over from the casta system that basically means if you marry or have kids with someone lighter you're making your bloodline better--still a pretty ingrained train of thought today. Seems like more people in my generation and younger are fighting against and deconstructing it, but it's definitely still cultural background noise for a lot of us).

Maybe I'm just reading my own experiences into it, or maybe it was intentional, but isn't that the point of literature and analysis?

I think this, even more than Mexican Gothic (which I do still want an adaptation of once the strike is over and the WGA and SAG get the protections they need and deserve), is really well suited to a series if we ever get a screen adaptation--it would provide a little more time to flesh out the hybrids and the relationships they have to each other and the human characters.

Final thought: thinking back it almost feels like we were going to get a different ending with Monty and Loti, but then there was some sort of "wait, no. People won't like the age gap" thing or maybe a "nah. examining the nature of real, deeply rooted love versus infatuation is too much with all the other issues this tackles" (despite most of Loti's thoughts and reactions to Monty pointing to her being in love with him, too. Like I said in my previous post about the book, she obviously doesn't realize it yet because it's not the type of love she's read about in her adventure novels, but someone being your sense of home--or at least intrinsic to it--feels like some real "this is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with" type shit). ESPECIALLY with the stipulation at the end that she can no longer use the Moreau name. She has no surname, and traditionally what does a woman do when she gets married? She gets a new surname anyway.

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Seven Covers in Seven Days: THE DAUGHTER OF DOCTOR MOREAU by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

tagged by: @asexualbookbird

Every day post the cover of a book you love and tag someone to do the same!

tagging: @librarianlirael

[dragonie]

Books I've finished lately, in no particular order:

Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Absolutely adored this one. Top-notch horror, and I would kill and also die for Noemí and Francis and Catalina. Makes me want to search out more Gothic horror novels. The characters are all well-crafted, with some slimy fuckin' villains, and the unfolding mystery of High Place is a delight to follow, creating a real sense of dread and mindfuckery. Chef's kiss, five mushrooms out of five.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Lush scene-setting and descriptions. Thematically I think it has some similarities to Mexican Gothic, although Carlota as a protagonist didn't grab me quite as much as Noemí. She has a touch of the ingenue at the start, although part of the meat of the novel is her coming into her own. I definitely preferred Mexican Gothic, but the prose is still very strong. Four jaguars out of five.

Imago, by M. Zakharuk

Dystopian dark academia Gothic with lots of mystery, Weird Magic, and a non-binary lesbian love story; what's not to like? The prose is immensely strong, Ada is a fascinating character to inhabit, and the town of Heilung is vividly described, even as many details of the overall regime remain tantalisingly vague. The ending felt a little abrupt, but otherwise the tension and twists were remarkably well-sustained. 4.5 eldritch runes out of 5.

Dulhaniyaa, by Talia Bhatt

A Bollywood-inspired Desi lesbian romance. It didn't matter that I'm not very familiar with Bollywood; I still had a blast. It did an amazing job somehow capturing the feel of a musical number within text. A vibrant romance that doesn't shy away from high drama or sappiness. The dialogue uses a lot of Hinglish, so I came away with an expanded vocabulary. Four motorcycle chase scenes out of five.

She Walks in Shadows, edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles

A Lovecraftian short fiction compilation with a focus on women - a mix of Lovecraft reimaginings that centre his few female characters, and broader cosmic horror/Lovecraft-inspired works with female characters. Some favourites include "Eight Seconds" by Pandora Hope, "Cthulhu of the Dead Sea" by Inkeri Kontro, and "De Deabus Minoribus Exterioris Theomagicae" by Jilly Dreadful.

Fungi, edited by Orrin Grey and Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Heehee mushroom.

A collection of fungal-themed short stories, with a pretty broad range of genres, moods, and level of fungal involvement. "Dust from a Dark Flower" by Daniel Mills is the standout favourite in spooky fungal hijinks. "The Pilgrims of Parthen" by Kristopher Riesz and "Last Bloom on the Sage" by Andrew Penn Ramine were also particularly fun.

[nakedinashes]

books cristina read in 2023: the daughter of doctor moreau - silvia moreno-garcia

“If she’d been a siren luring him to the bottom of the sea, he would have followed. If she’d been a gorgon he’d have let himself be turned into stone.”

[maddiesbookshelves]

Last read: Six Crimson Cranes

Current read: The Dragon's Promise

(Tentative) Next read: The Daughter of Doctor Moreau (really not sure though, I'm a mood reader and I don't know what mood I'll be in after TDP)

Thanks for the tag @yourneighborhoodbibliophile 😌

Tagging @agardenandlibrary @therefugeofbooks @cleopatras-library (feel free to ignore it) and anyone who wants to participate ☺️