I was browsing Audible, looking for a book to listen to when I came across The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter. From the title, I could tell that it was a take on Jekyll and Hyde. I read the premise, and it was something that I knew that I would really enjoy. I love reading books about classic literature, and I love reading re-tellings of them.

Mary Jekyll, alone and penniless following her parents’ death, is curious about the secrets of her father’s mysterious past. One clue in particular hints that Edward Hyde, her father’s former friend and a murderer, may be nearby, and there is a reward for information leading to his capture…a reward that would solve all of her immediate financial woes.

But her hunt leads her to Hyde’s daughter, Diana, a feral child left to be raised by nuns. With the assistance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, Mary continues her search for the elusive Hyde and soon befriends more women, all of whom have been created through terrifying experimentation: Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherin Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein.

When their investigations lead them to the discovery of a secret society of immoral and power-crazed scientists, the horrors of their past return. Now it is up to the monsters to finally triumph over the monstrous.

I actually hadn’t heard anything about this book before I started listening to it on audiobook. I saw the cover, thought it was amazing, checked the premise and it sounded like something that would be right up my alley. I absolutely love contemporary YA thriller/fantasy books that are set in Victorian London, and I also love classic sci-fi/horror/fantasy literature, so this book sounded like the perfect blend for me.

 

 

“No wonder men did not want women to wear bloomers. What could women accomplish if they did not have to continually mind their skirts, keep them from dragging in the mud or getting trampled on the steps of an omnibus? If they had pockets! With pockets, women could conquer the world!”

― Theodora Goss, The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter

 

 

As aforementioned, I listened to this on audiobook and Kate Reading did A MAGNIFICENT job of voicing all of the different characters and bringing the story to life. That’s one of the reasons why I love audiobooks: it just feels so real. Especially when I put the audiobook through my speakers, it feels like the story is all around me.

I think that one of the things that I loved the most about this book was that it completely and utterly celebrated female friendships, and how women can lean on each other and empower each other. Each of the female characters (and some of the male characters) are taken from classic literature, and it was amazing to see them all come together and to see their stories explored from a different perspective and to also see Goss’ take on the classic stories.

The best way to sum up this book is to say this:

The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter is a book about girls being each other’s friends and confidants (even if they don’t see eye-to-eye all of the time), it’s about them going on adventures together, about them looking out for themselves and not letting the patriarchy of the Victorian era crumple them and treat them like trash. The women who make up the Athena Club has experienced so much abuse throughout their lives, whether it was from parents or other men, and they use each other as support systems to get through the horrors that they’ve each faced.

 

“She had longed for adventure, and now that it was happening to her, she was not sure how she felt about it.”

― Theodora Goss, The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter

 

As I said before, this book is set in the Victorian era, and for most of the time, the book is generally well grounded within this time. But then, we also see aspects of the Victorian society that we don’t see in classic literature. We see Beatrice supporting the votes for women and dress reform, we see Catherine’s atheism, and then Justine’s deep rooting faith, Diana was raised by prostitutes and just doesn’t trust men at all, and then we also have our main character Mary, who always wonders how much more women could accomplish if they were treated as equals to men.

I think what is absolutely brilliant is the name of their club: the Athena Club. They state in the book that they called themselves that because “we claim the wisdom of Athena, but we identify with her dubious parentage” which I thought was amazing and hilarious at the same time.

One of the things that didn’t really sit right with me at the beginning was the way that the story was told. It just has such a strange way of telling the story. The book would be going on like a book usually does, and then the characters will interject the story with their own commentary about was *really* happened. I mean sometimes, it can a really good method of telling the story, but when the plot becomes dark and intense, the banter between the characters in the footnotes tends to take away some of the dark and intense atmospheres of the book which IS a shame, because then it becomes obvious that everyone has survived and that they’re all fine. BUT, it does add such a fun, and creative twist the story that I did actually really enjoy in places.