The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

Chapter 1

Carlota

They d be arriving that day, the two gentlemen, their boat gliding through the forest of mangroves. The jungle teemed with noises, birds crying out in sonorous discontent as if they could foretell the approach of intruders. In their huts, behind the main house, the hybrids were restless. Even the old donkey, eating its corn, seemed peevish.

Carlota had spent a long time contemplating the ceiling of her room the previous night, and in the morning her belly ached like it always did when she was nervous. Ramona had to brew her a cup of bitter orange tea. Carlota didn t like when her nerves got the best of her, but Dr. Moreau seldom had visitors. Their isolation, her father said, did her good. When she was little she d been ill, and it was important that she rest and remain calm. Besides, the hybrids made proper company impossible. When someone stopped at Yaxaktun it was either Francisco Ritter, her father s lawyer and correspondent, or Hernando Lizalde.

Mr. Lizalde always came alone. Carlota was never introduced to him. Twice she d seen him walking from afar, outside the house, with her father. He left quickly; he didn t stay the night in one of the guest rooms. And he didn t visit often, anyway. His presence was mostly felt in letters, which arrived every few months.

Now Mr. Lizalde, who was a distant presence, a name spoken but never manifested, was visiting and not only visiting but he d be bringing with him a new mayordomo. For nearly a year since Melquíades had departed, the reins of Yaxaktun had been solely in the hands of the doctor, an inadequate situation since he spent most of his time busy in the lab or deep in contemplation. Her father, however, didn t seem inclined to find a steward.

The doctor, he s too picky, Ramona said, brushing the tangles and knots out of Carlota s hair. Mr. Lizalde, he sends him letters, and he says here s one gentleman, here s another, but your father always replies no, this one won t do,

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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

If there are two things I love in this world, it s contemporary reimaginings of Victorian era horror and sci-fi, and joyful genre mashups in literature. Thank the Lord, then, for Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the author of the 1970s Mexico City noir Velvet Was the Night and the postcolonial gothic romance Mexican Gothic, who brings her chameleonic powers to bear on H. G. Wells s 1896 exercise in youthful blasphemy. Lit Hub

The brilliant and unstoppable Silvia Moreno-Garcia continues to weave her magic in The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, a smart, sinister fable about social inequality and exploitation, isolation and abuse of power. Both lacerating and deeply empathetic, this story satisfies the reader on every page. Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife and When the Stars Go Dark

Silvia Moreno-Garcia goes from strength to strength. The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is my favorite of her novels so far a gothic tour de force with characters who will keep you glued to the page, and a series of satisfying, surprising riffs on Wells s original story. Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble

Beautiful, feral, and as sharp as a jaguar's claws . . . I felt the anger and hope in this story down to my very bones. Truly, Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a virtuoso of the anti-imperialist gothic novel. Annalee Newitz, author of Autonomous and Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age

With intelligence, energy, and unexpected tenderness, Silvia Moreno-Garcia takes on Wells s classic tale of scientific hubris. At once playful and deadly serious, The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is an irresistible and thoroughly satisfying novel.