The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, by Theodora Goss

In this novel, Goss has created an excellent homage to Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with a thoroughly entertaining twist. Where Moore took classic characters that starred in their own novels such as Captain Nemo and Allan Quatermain and formed an alliance, Goss takes the daughters of fictional characters (some appearing in their progenitor's novels and some created by Goss) for her team: Mary Jeckyll and Diana Hyde are the children of the two halves of Dr. Jekyll, Beatrice Rappaccini is the eponymous Rappaccinis Daughter, Catherine Moreau is one of Dr. Moreau's creations, and Justine Frankenstein the second monster of Victor Frankenstein. Toss in Holmes and Watson as occasional partners for the women and Renfield as one of a group of notable antagonists and we have a band of heroes (calling themselves the Athena Club) and villains (the Société des Alchimistes) set for an epic showdown.

Well written, The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter has a unique narrative style. The story purports to be a novel written in the early 1900's by Catherine Moreau, but has the main characters injecting commentary along the way. The first person narrative erratically shifts between the various characters which I found odd at first, but came to appreciate. This distinctive technique is self-referentially explained away in the course of the plot: "JUSTINE: Is the story supposed to be jumping around like that, from Mary's head, to Diana's, to Beatrice's? CATHERINE: I told you, this is a new way of writing. How can I write a story about all of us if I don't show what we were all thinking?" Clever and quirky, this approach to storytelling adds greatly to the overall literary experience. With a compelling plot and fantastic characters, I eagerly look forward to reading the next adventure of the Athena Club, European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman.

First Sentence:

Mary Jeckyll stared down at her mother's coffin.