Gothic romance novels have certain aspects that I have come to expect- a sense of foreboding, omens, mystery and danger, a tyrannical male, and romance. Ms. Griep wrote a brilliant story with all of these elements included to make it a hard to put down book.
Amelia Balfour is an independent young lady who has broken societal expectations by being a travel writer and escaping her overreaching, domineering father. Her only regret is that she left behind her grotesquely disfigured brother, Colin. She decides to honor her father’s last wish and help Colin through a dangerous and controversial surgery that promises to repair his face and correct his abnormal growth.
Dr. Peckwood was the perfect mad doctor with his ideas about medicine and his questionable practices. I believe he at first wanted to find a way to help his patients, but lost sight of his patients, wanting to prove that he was a brilliant doctor at the expense of those under his care. I found myself fearing for Colin and wanting Amelia and Colin run away from him and his “treatments”. I was hoping that Graham Lambert, Dr. Peckwood's associate, would find the courage to step in and help both Colin and Amelia escape. While he cared for them, he felt powerless to do anything and thus creating a perfect situation for Dr. Peckwood to perform his surgery.
While I was sad for how things turned out for Colin, I was glad to see that Dr. Peckwood got everything he deserved. It was exactly what I was hoping for since his total lack of compassion for his patients (both willing and unwilling) made you wish someone would stop him.
The characters of this story were so well done that I found myself thinking about them well after I finished this book. Lessons from this book were powerful as I was reminded that we are made in the image and likeness of God. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. Colin was such a sweet spirited young man who saw beyond himself and his terrible condition in order to help others. He was a truly great hero in this story.
I highly recommend this book if you like Gothic novels. My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.
About the Book:
Even if there be monsters, there is none so fierce as that which resides in man’s own heart.
Enchanting Regency-Era Gothic Romance Intertwined with Inspiration from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Travel writer Amelia Balfour’s dream of touring Egypt is halted when she receives news of a revolutionary new surgery for her grotesquely disfigured brother. This could change everything, and it does. . .in the worst possible way.
Surgeon Graham Lambert has suspicions about the doctor he’s gone into practice with, but he can’t stop him from operating on Amelia’s brother. Will he be too late to prevent the man’s death? Or to reveal his true feelings for Amelia before she sails to Cairo?
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