Islands of the Gulf, Volume Two: The Treasure by Audrey DriscollMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
When I started reading ‘Islands of the Gulf: The Treasure’ I was quite confused for very many pages because I found it difficult to place this book in a recognisable genre. Was it a thriller? Maybe it was an autobiography of the ‘memoir noir’ category, or just one novel in an historical fiction series? The principal character, Herbert West, was certainly subjected to a lot of intimidation, humiliation and sadness during his boyhood. However, the strong characterisation and beautiful prose carried me along, and I discovered I no longer minded what genre this rather long novel was. By chapter 4 the intriguing tale had captured my imagination and I wanted to discover more about Herbert. Audrey Driscoll is a talented writer whose ability to describe people, places and situations deserves more recognition. When I found that she was a big fan of Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ and Mervyn Peake’s ‘Gormenghast’ trilogy then I was encouraged to read on even more.
It was the beautiful writing and the hints of science fiction, set in a period of time moving from the nineteenth to the early twentieth century that kept me reading on. I had checked out the blurb for the book by chapter 6, and discovered there was even more intrigue about Herbert, aka Francis Dexter, still to come; with further explanation of the elements of fantasy and horror I was finding confusing. I am not sure if Driscoll intended that shades of Mary Shelley’s story of Frankenstein would linger in the reader’s thoughts at different points in her story – but they persisted during my reading of it. Notwithstanding that issue, or my usual avoidance of ‘new’ fantasy tales, I enjoyed ‘Islands of the Gulf’ and can recommend it to fans of the genre, but I also think fans of mystery and horror will like this book. My main reservations about the book are: there was not enough science to back up the parts about the revivification experiments and, by contrast, there was too much personal introspection at times that slowed down the story for me.
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