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

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss tells the tale of Mary Jekyll, who is alone and penniless after the death of her parents. In her search for money, she finds Diana Hyde, a child who has been raised in a home for foundlings. They reach out to Sherlock Holmes for some help with the mystery of how Mary and Diana are related.  As the story unravels, we meet many other characters who are related to characters from other beloved novels, including Frankenstein and The Island of Dr. Moreau.

This book was clever. I was enjoying catching the Easter eggs and looking up references I didn't know.  The frame of the book is that one of the characters is writing down the story as the other characters constantly butt in with their own remarks and corrections. I enjoyed the interactions between those characters. I thought the setting was well done and I could feel the oppressiveness of Victorian London, the stifling social norms that forced women to make unthinkable choices, and the formality that existed between even the most familiar of social acquaintances.

I also thought the writing was tight. I've never read Goss before and it looks like this is the first book in a planned series. She has mostly written short stories before. Apparently The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter is her first novel.  She's a teacher in a creative writing program, but this didn't come off as too incredibly workshopped to me.  I thought there was just enough poking fun of literary conventions in the interstitial repartee among the characters to show that Goss knows what she's doing, but also knows how to play with it.

That being said, I also kept falling asleep as I read this book. Admittedly, I wasn't feeling 100%, but I'd read a couple of chapters and put it down for a day.  I think it's great! I really do! But I'm probably not going to pick up any more books in the series. But I DO recommend that you read this book because it's fun, there are great female characters, and the writing is solid.