Monday, September 23, 2013

Jekyll's Daughter Review

I am utterly blown away and humbled by this review posted on Good Reads today
(Five stars)

Jekyll’s Daughter. A gem. 

From the cover: 
William Blake’s, The Night of Enitharmon's Joy: ‘...the female aspect “should never exist in separation”—this splitting is negative and will bring about unfortunate results.’ But, The Night of Enitharmon's Joy was originally entitled Hecate: ‘…associated with crossroads, the knowledge of herbs and potions...’ 
Then, look more closely and it's not a reproduction of Blake’s painting. It's a reproduction of a copy, or a tracing. Not Blake’s drawing at all, unless there are two!? 

To the story:
In Jekyll’s Daughter we meet Henri -Henrietta and Jekyll’s daughter; studious and plain, she gains access to Jekyll’s old notebooks and develops a potion according to his specification but excluding, hopefully, the contaminant. This brew brings forth, not a monster but an opposite. Not better, not worse, but a contrary force. And here the fun begins.
Henri is fond of a tipple, or two. The Widow Hyde is largely teetotal, it is unfortunate therefore, a large pitcher of water stands on the table where Henri is to deliver her dissertation…

The transformation scenes are such wicked good fun. Henri changes to the Widow Hyde, calmly dining, engaging in witty conversation, while the seams on her dress burst, slowly...open...

I thoroughly recommend Jekyll’s daughter; it's clever and witty, but subtle and unpretentious; allowing the reader the pleasure of deduction... 
And/or
Jekyll’s daughter is a charming book, a great yarn, cleverly told; with a lovely cover. 

And the author affords the reader the respect to enjoy the book on either of those accounts. 

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