New York, NY : Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2014.
420 p. ; 21 cm.
On a positive note, I'd say that The Madman's Daughter is creative and kind of fun to read. It also made me want to read H. G. Well's The Island of Dr. Moreau. But beyond that the novel didn't really didn't hit the target for me.
Shepard reimagines the story of Dr. Moreau from the vantage point of a character she creates, Juliet, the 16-year-old daughter whom Moreau abandoned to the harsh fate of being an orphan in Victorian England. Juliet finds her way to the island in the South Pacific where her father is carrying out his hideous operations aimed at creating humans from animals. But, as the positive Booklist review notes, "this is a romantic-triangle book first and foremost, as Juliet trembles, blushes, and heaves her bosom at both Moreau's hunky assistant and a dashing castaway." I didn't mind the romance but it just was overwrought for my tastes. Combined, with the rather ludicrous animal-human metamorphoses that occur at the end of the novel, I at times just felt like the novel was silly, rather than thrilling. For me that is too bad, because I think if it had been toned down a bit, it would have been both exciting, romantic, and thought-provoking.
However, I still would mention it to a student looking for some kind of romantic, thrilling adventure with a bit of the grotesque and science fiction thrown into the mix.
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