Mary Reilly is a spin-off from Robert Louis Stephenson’s short story Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It focuses on Mary Reilly, a maid in Dr Jekyll’s household, who, in part due to her own traumatic childhood, finds herself attracted to her boss.

I think I was far too influenced by the 1995 movie version of this book, because it left me obscurely disappointed. I felt like at all times the story was oblique to the original story, never really quite interacting with it. The reader never really witnesses a full transformation of Jekyll and there are certainly no dramatic final scenes as in the movie (severed head and all). Nor is the love angle played up as it might have been, but is simply a way to involve Mary in a story that never really becomes involving.

Time has not been kind to the original, as the true identity of Jekyll and Hyde is supposed to remain a mystery, dramatically revealed at the end. These days it is certainly no secret, thus rather spoiling the story. Given that Mary Reilly follows the original so closely, it rather suffers also, though it makes use of the reader’s knowledge to have Mary say a few apt things.

The afterword at the ending was completely useless. Rather reminicent of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale it details how Mary’s journals came into the publisher’s hands and speculates on their authenticity. As with The Handmaid’s Tale, this is completely unnecessary and detracts rather than adds to the story.

Still, I did manage to enjoy the book on some level. Mary’s voice is extremely well done and it manages to capture the gloomy, gothic London feel wonderfully.