The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

"Where, exactly, is the line between human and animal? Deep in the tropical forests of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Yucatán, the answer is intentionally unclear. A girl, Carlota, grows up helping her father with his important, but mysterious research. But it is only when their small enclave is visited by outsiders that Carlota realizes just how earth-shattering this research really is and how deeply she’s implicated in it. Part science fiction, part adventure, part social critique, this book – like many of the characters who inhabit it – is never just one thing."

"Previously, Moreno-Garcia riffed on Edgar Allen Poe ; here she takes her inspiration from H. G. Wells ’ The Island of Doctor Moreau . At least, this is the most obvious inspiration. Moreno-Garcia herself has explained : I was not just looking at Wells—I was also very interested in the work of Ignacio Manuel Altamirano and his 1869 novel Clemencia . […] Altamirano and other Latin American writers were trying to create a different kind of book at this time, something that blends European Romanticism with Latin American specificities. I was looking back at Altamirano as much as I was looking at Wells. Moreno-Garcia’s novel The Daughter of Doctor Moreau takes place in Yaxaktun, Mexico, and follows two voices: Doctor Moreau’s daughter Carlota, and his mayordomo (household manager) Montgomery. The doctor is creating human-animal hybrids, claiming that they offer hope of medical advances—but he is also beholden to a patron, who hopes the experiments will ultimately provide cheap labour. The moral uncertainty is well-drawn, but takes a back seat to the human (or part-human) relationships. These feel real; there are no simplistic character choices made to serve romance or villainy, and the resulting relationships are unpredictable and compelling. The story also gains verisimilitude from its historical setting, with fact and fiction deftly woven together. The Daughter of Doctor Moreau feels plausible, set alongside the complex politics of indentured and immigrant labour. Moreno-Garcia has said that she likes grounding her work in historical fact “because the truth can be surreal. You can’t quite believe the things you find in footnotes.”"