The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is a 2022 novel by Mexican Canadian author Silvia Moreno-Garcia. The novel reimagines some plot and thematic elements drawn from The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896) by H. G. Wells. Moreno-Garcia’s novel also combines aspects of historical fiction, science fiction, and the gothic. By transposing some of Wells’s plot elements to 19th-century Mexico, Moreno-Garcia explores themes of desire, colonialism, and power and oppression.

This guide references the 2022 Random House edition of the text.

Content Warning: Characters in the novel use outdated terminology to refer to the Indigenous Mayan people. This guide also references alcohol addiction, physical violence (including gun violence), and suicidal ideation.

Plot Summary

The novel is set on the Yucatán Peninsula, a region of Mexico, in the 1870s. Doctor Moreau is a French man who emigrated to Mexico; he lives on a remote estate called Yaxaktun, which is owned by a wealthy man named Hernando Lizalde. Doctor Moreau has a daughter named Carlota; she initially believes that her mother was a Mexican woman who died shortly after giving birth. Doctor Moreau is a scientist who conducts experiments and creates “hybrids”: creatures developed out of a fusion of animal and human matter. Carlota has grown up with the hybrids, and is close with many of them, especially Lupe and Cachito. Lizalde supports Moreau's research because he hopes to eventually use hybrids as a source of cheap labor on his estates and plantations. Moreau is extremely secretive about his research and as a result, Carlota grows up in almost complete isolation, never leaving Yaxaktun.

In 1871, when Carlota is 14 years old, Montgomery Laughton is hired to work on the estate as the mayordomo (a kind of general manager). Montgomery is an English man who grew up in an abusive family; after he left England, he neglected his promise to help his sister, who ended up dying by suicide in order to escape from an abusive marriage. Montgomery is haunted by these events, as well as his own failed marriage; he lives an unsettled life travelling around Mexico and the Caribbean, and he also drinks heavily. While Montgomery initially only accepts the mayordomo job because he has no other options, he ends up liking his position on the estate; he is secretly attracted to Carlota, but tries to conceal these feelings.

In 1877, when Carlota is 20 years old, Eduardo Lizalde (the son of Hernando) happens to come to the estate, and becomes attracted to Carlota. Doctor Moreau is eager to encourage a relationship between Carlota and Eduardo because he fears that Hernando Lizalde is going to stop funding his research; Montgomery is jealous of Eduardo and wary about whether the relationship will make Carlota happy. Carlota is conflicted: She is attracted to Eduardo, and she hopes that by marrying him, she will be able to attain ownership of Yaxaktun, protecting it and the hybrids who live there.

Eduardo and Carlota eventually become engaged; Montgomery conspires to ensure that Eduardo's father learns about the relationship, hoping that Hernando will force them to break off the engagement. Sure enough, Hernando Lizalde is furious and demands that Eduardo end the relationship; he also reveals that Carlota is actually a hybrid, not Moreau's illegitimate daughter. This news is shocking to everyone including Carlota, and after a confrontation, the Lizaldes leave the estate. However, it is clear that they plan to come back, reclaim the estate, and potentially capture or harm the hybrids.

Shortly after the Lizaldes leave, Doctor Moreau has a heart attack and is left in a fragile physical state. Carlota, Montgomery, and the hybrids debate what to do: options include engaging in a physical fight with the Lizaldes, trying to negotiate with them, or fleeing Yaxaktun. A group of Indigenous rebels who have been challenging local estate owners are camped nearby, and might be willing to take the hybrids in. Eventually, the hybrids decide to flee and join the rebels, but Carlota opts to stay with her father. Montgomery and Lupe decide to stay with her.

When Hernando and Eduardo come back to the estate, they force Montgomery and Lupe to show them where the hybrids have gone. The hybrids attack them, and in the conflict, Montgomery and Lupe are able to get free. Late at night, they sneak back to the estate, intending to rescue Carlota. The arrival of Montgomery and Lupe leads to a violent confrontation at Yaxaktun where the Lizaldes have already arrived. In the conflict, Doctor Moreau and Hernando Lizalde are both killed, along with many of the men working for the Lizaldes. Carlota shapeshifts into a jaguar, attacking and severely wounding Eduardo, and Montgomery shoots the dying man.

Afterward, Carlota, Montgomery, and Lupe dispose of the bodies, and claim that Moreau and the Lizaldes went in pursuit of the Indigenous rebels, and ended up being killed by them. Carlota is able to assert her claim as Doctor Moreau's heir and access some money from his family; she plans to use this money to purchase a remote estate. Montgomery sets off to track the hybrids, in hopes of finding them and telling them they can come to live at Carlota's estate. Carlota is sad to part from him, but she looks forward hopefully to everyone being reunited and safe in the haven she plans to create.