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Orpheus Builds a Girl
Note: alternative cover edition can be found here
Based on a true story, Orpheus Builds a Girl is a novel of sisterly love, sinister obsession, and the battle for control of the story. A dark, chilling debut novel from award-winning writer Heather Parry.
German doctor Wilhelm Von Tore shares with the reader the story of his one true ove; a love written in the stars, decades in the making, a love so strong it transcended death itself. When Wilhelm emigrates to America he carries with him a vision of a dark-haired beauty, presented to him in his dreams by his beloved late Grandmother. In Key West, Florida, a beautiful young woman is taken to him in the grip of illness, and he recognises her immediately as his promised bride. Despite his efforts, the sickness takes hold and his beloved slips away from him. But Wilhelm will not be kept from his destiny, not even by death. Using research compiled over decades, he sets about attempting to restore his love to her body, so that they might be together forever.
But there's another voice in this story: Gabriela, and she will not let this version of events go unchallenged. From between the cracks in Wilhelm's story Gabriela recounts her own memory of her sister Luciana, a fiery and difficult young woman, and the madman who robbed her from her grave.
Based on a true story, Orpheus Builds a Girl is a novel of sisterly love, sinister obsession, and the battle for control of the story. A dark, chilling debut novel from award-winning writer Heather Parry.
German doctor Wilhelm Von Tore shares with the reader the story of his one true ove; a love written in the stars, decades in the making, a love so strong it transcended death itself. When Wilhelm emigrates to America he carries with him a vision of a dark-haired beauty, presented to him in his dreams by his beloved late Grandmother. In Key West, Florida, a beautiful young woman is taken to him in the grip of illness, and he recognises her immediately as his promised bride. Despite his efforts, the sickness takes hold and his beloved slips away from him. But Wilhelm will not be kept from his destiny, not even by death. Using research compiled over decades, he sets about attempting to restore his love to her body, so that they might be together forever.
But there's another voice in this story: Gabriela, and she will not let this version of events go unchallenged. From between the cracks in Wilhelm's story Gabriela recounts her own memory of her sister Luciana, a fiery and difficult young woman, and the madman who robbed her from her grave.
319 pages, Paperback
First published October 6, 2022
67 people are currently reading
11247 people want to read
About the author
Heather Parry
19 books238 followersHeather Parry is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. Her debut novel, Orpheus Builds a Girl, was shortlisted for the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year award and longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize.
She is also the author of a short story collection, This Is My Body, Given For You, and a short nonfiction book, Electric Dreams: On Sex Robots and the Failed Promises of Capitalism, and writes the Substack general observations on eggs. Her latest novel, Carrion Crow, was released in Feb 2025.
She was raised in Rotherham and lives in Glasgow with her partner and their cats, Fidel and Ernesto.
She is also the author of a short story collection, This Is My Body, Given For You, and a short nonfiction book, Electric Dreams: On Sex Robots and the Failed Promises of Capitalism, and writes the Substack general observations on eggs. Her latest novel, Carrion Crow, was released in Feb 2025.
She was raised in Rotherham and lives in Glasgow with her partner and their cats, Fidel and Ernesto.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 278 reviews
August 30, 2022
Orpheus Builds a Girl is a provocative tale from Gallic Press and debut author Heather Parry. With heavy gothic overtones, the story features a necrophiliac ex-Nazi doctor, exiled to Florida by way of Argentina, who seeks to revive the corpse of a Cuban woman he is disturbingly obsessed with. Alternating chapters relay the story from the perspectives of Dr. Wilhelm and the woman's sister Gabriela. Parry is a skilled writer and the story is a page turner, although the finished product isn't quite as satisfying as its delicious premise. The novel is heavy on exposition and not as well paced as it might have been. I didn't think the alternating chapters added much to the story; if anything they simply served to slow down the momentum Parry was building. In any event, this is a wild ride even if the execution doesn't quite match the set up.
August 27, 2022
Hell, this is fun to read as doctor Wilhelm channels Victor Frankenstein in his 'over-reaching' medical theory that he can re-animate a corpse - and tries it on the dead body of a young woman with whom he is obsessed. Cue lots of grisly descriptions of fleshly insect infestations, peeling skin, odours, blood and other gore - so far so Psycho-lite, I thought.
But this book is not content with putting us in the mind of a deranged lunatic - it feels the need to intercut his 1st person narrative with that of the dead girl's sister, supposedly telling the other side of the story. The problem with this is that it's abundantly clear to us pretty much from the start that Wilhelm is crazy: . Add to that his discreet but obvious allusions to his Nazi past: the 'youth organisation' he joins in 1930s German (Hitler Youth or similar), the obscure medical 'experiments' he participates in during the war even if he, self-righteously, tells us he was never interested in work on twins (as was, notoriously, Josef Mengele), his recall of the firebombing of Dresden, and his later escape from German via South America and, eventually, to Florida.
The point I'm making is that we're never taken in by Wilhelm for a second so there's no need for a 'sane' narrative to contextualise his mad one and all it serves to do is slow down the pace as it fills in unnecessary backstory and then repeats what we already know from a different perspective. I'm not sure if the intention was that the reader was supposed to read Wilhelm's story straightforwardly, but it seems impossible given , his mad theory of bringing back the dead and his Nazi associations.
I also thought that Orpheus is a slightly off-kilter classical mythical reference to use thematically: Pygmalion is what I was thinking of which chimes more with that 'build' of the title and also the long descriptions of Wilhelm's corporeal 'operations'. Orpheus goes into the underworld to bring back Eurydice and fails - but Hercules' scarier retrieval of Alcestis from death would have been more pertinent, too, given that Alcestis remains veiled and silent when presented back to her husband and we can't help wondering, with a shudder, what exactly is beneath that veil...
So, for me, this is a fun read with a Gothic sensibility pressed into the twentieth century. I am assuming it was supposed to be saying things about gendered power, gendered voices, suppression and powerlessness, and the recuperation of female agency and story-telling but those aspects felt a bit redundant and like a theoretical add-on that felt laboured rather than urgent.
But this book is not content with putting us in the mind of a deranged lunatic - it feels the need to intercut his 1st person narrative with that of the dead girl's sister, supposedly telling the other side of the story. The problem with this is that it's abundantly clear to us pretty much from the start that Wilhelm is crazy: . Add to that his discreet but obvious allusions to his Nazi past: the 'youth organisation' he joins in 1930s German (Hitler Youth or similar), the obscure medical 'experiments' he participates in during the war even if he, self-righteously, tells us he was never interested in work on twins (as was, notoriously, Josef Mengele), his recall of the firebombing of Dresden, and his later escape from German via South America and, eventually, to Florida.
The point I'm making is that we're never taken in by Wilhelm for a second so there's no need for a 'sane' narrative to contextualise his mad one and all it serves to do is slow down the pace as it fills in unnecessary backstory and then repeats what we already know from a different perspective. I'm not sure if the intention was that the reader was supposed to read Wilhelm's story straightforwardly, but it seems impossible given , his mad theory of bringing back the dead and his Nazi associations.
I also thought that Orpheus is a slightly off-kilter classical mythical reference to use thematically: Pygmalion is what I was thinking of which chimes more with that 'build' of the title and also the long descriptions of Wilhelm's corporeal 'operations'. Orpheus goes into the underworld to bring back Eurydice and fails - but Hercules' scarier retrieval of Alcestis from death would have been more pertinent, too, given that Alcestis remains veiled and silent when presented back to her husband and we can't help wondering, with a shudder, what exactly is beneath that veil...
So, for me, this is a fun read with a Gothic sensibility pressed into the twentieth century. I am assuming it was supposed to be saying things about gendered power, gendered voices, suppression and powerlessness, and the recuperation of female agency and story-telling but those aspects felt a bit redundant and like a theoretical add-on that felt laboured rather than urgent.
August 1, 2022
Where to begin with this glorious book? It gave me the creeps, it made me angry, I couldn’t stop reading it and I was bereft when it was done. The characters feel so real, so horrifyingly believable. The dual-narrator structure was clever and stunningly executed - if only every terrible act usually told through the lens of the ‘victor’ could have the record righted somewhat. I’m excited to see what else Heather publishes, so I can be left pondering more of life’s horrors in what feels like a productive, somehow beautiful, way.
January 19, 2023
Since I’m familiar with the real life story that inspired this book, I felt like there was a big change I would like it if executed correctly, even with the heavy and dark themes. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Starting with the fact that it can’t even be said this book is inspired by what happened to Maria Elena Milagro Hoyos; it IS her story, beat by beat. There are different names, different dates, but it’s almost the exact same story. I might’ve missed it, but the real Elena wasn’t mentioned in the Acknowledgments or any other part in my copy. That felt wrong given how close the book is to what happened to her. And even though the book goes on to comment on the exploitation of this woman at the hands of this man, the public, and so many others, it doesn’t escape me that the author herself must also be counted as one of the people exploiting Elena’s tragedy after her death. And I don’t say this lightly. There simply isn’t enough original material infused into the story as it is. In addition to this, I had issues with the pacing and the structure of the book. About halfway through, the switching POVs stop adding anything to the story and make things feel repetitive. The amount of times we go over detailed descriptions of what Wilhelm does to her, the rituals he embarks upon to “save” her, also get very repetitive about 3/4s in. There’s too much exposition for my liking: a lot of telling and very little showing, specially when it comes to getting to know the characters and their motivations. This is probably the product of the book being written as a memoir of sorts. I’d still say the book is well written; the author can certainly string sentences together and the prose is fluid and well crafted. There’s also interesting commentary on important topics like immigration, xenophobia, misogyny, obsession, mental health, paraphilias, among other things, and the author never comes across as excessively preachy. But in the end, Luciana is a secondary character in her own story, just like the public forced Elena to be in hers. As the reader I didn’t get a good sense of who Luci was as a person before she dies, beyond her being rebellious and boy crazy, the author didn’t offer much else. Whether that was her intent or not, I couldn’t really tell.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2023
Wilhem von Tore doesn’t have much time left. As he reflects on his life his main memory is his beloved Luci, love of his life and the woman he vowed to stay with forever. And stay with her he did, despite her having died of tuberculosis only a few months after their first meeting. Despite Luci being buried by her grieving family shortly after her death. Small obstacles, but nothing that would get in the way of Wilhem’s quest.
Then there is Gabriela, sister to Luciana. She recalls a feisty and carefree young woman, taken too soon but never forgotten. These two characters are worlds apart but united in their love for the same person. But love can have different forms; familial, habitual, obsessional.
I finished this book wondering what the heck had I just read? Probably the most outlandish and imaginative tale I’ve read in a long time. And I absolutely LOVED it. Every single page was a marvel. Told from the two perspectives of Wilhem and Gabriela, their memories of Luci couldn’t be more different. My jaw would hang open in horror whilst reading Wilhem’s account and then in contrast I’d be blinking away tears reading Gabriela’s story. It really is a tale of two halves.
This story is something else. It’s macabre. It’s sinister. It’s so, so dark. But it’s also beautiful. It’s heartbreaking. Its unbearable. Its a story I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
The writing is exquisite. Wilhem’s tale told so well that you start to believe his madness. Even when you’re recoiling in disgust there is clear justification for his actions. It really is a book like no other. Utterly outstanding.
Then there is Gabriela, sister to Luciana. She recalls a feisty and carefree young woman, taken too soon but never forgotten. These two characters are worlds apart but united in their love for the same person. But love can have different forms; familial, habitual, obsessional.
I finished this book wondering what the heck had I just read? Probably the most outlandish and imaginative tale I’ve read in a long time. And I absolutely LOVED it. Every single page was a marvel. Told from the two perspectives of Wilhem and Gabriela, their memories of Luci couldn’t be more different. My jaw would hang open in horror whilst reading Wilhem’s account and then in contrast I’d be blinking away tears reading Gabriela’s story. It really is a tale of two halves.
This story is something else. It’s macabre. It’s sinister. It’s so, so dark. But it’s also beautiful. It’s heartbreaking. Its unbearable. Its a story I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
The writing is exquisite. Wilhem’s tale told so well that you start to believe his madness. Even when you’re recoiling in disgust there is clear justification for his actions. It really is a book like no other. Utterly outstanding.
May 21, 2025
Uz patiesiem notikumiem balstīts romāns par ārsta apsēstību ar savu mirstošo pacienti. Laikam būtu bijis interesantāk lasīt, ja nebūtu zināma reālie notikumi, kas kalpoja par ideju romānam. Autore labi raksta, tomēr vietām jau likās par daudz izstiepts. Šis ir tas gadījums, kad patiesie notikumi izrādās šaušalīgāki par fikciju.
November 19, 2025
I think the worst part of this story about an old Doctor who becomes so obsessed with a dying Cuban girl that he can't let her go, even in death, is finding out that it was based on a real crime. Told in a dual POV between the Doctor and Luci's sister, Gabriela, her voice and love for her sister shone, but Wilhelm was exhausting.
December 1, 2025
Diabolical Dr. Wilhelm Von Tore becomes fixated on the beautiful Luciana, decades his junior, when he begins treating her. Her refusal of his advances can’t stop his obsession with her—and neither can her death. After she succumbs to her disease, he steals her body and begins to experiment on it, hoping to resurrect her. When her sister learns what he’s done, she begins a fight to get Luciana back, and finally let her rest in peace.
OK, I did not know this was based on a true story until I went to post this review and saw the Goodreads summary. WTF? I was sure a story this horrific could only have come from an author’s imagination. This novel is grisly and gruesome with an unreliable and unlikable narrator…luckily, that is right up my alley. It’s told in alternating POVs, that of the aforementioned awful Dr. Von Tore and that of Luciana’s sister. What I liked about this narrative technique is that we see how very different Luciana was from the image Von Tore crafted of her in his mind. He saw her beautiful exterior and felt he knew her, without actually knowing what she was like. This is also a story about power imbalances and the difference in the ways society perceives successful white men and immigrant women of colour.
I really enjoyed this book and I recommend it to lit fic fans who can deal with a bit of gore.
OK, I did not know this was based on a true story until I went to post this review and saw the Goodreads summary. WTF? I was sure a story this horrific could only have come from an author’s imagination. This novel is grisly and gruesome with an unreliable and unlikable narrator…luckily, that is right up my alley. It’s told in alternating POVs, that of the aforementioned awful Dr. Von Tore and that of Luciana’s sister. What I liked about this narrative technique is that we see how very different Luciana was from the image Von Tore crafted of her in his mind. He saw her beautiful exterior and felt he knew her, without actually knowing what she was like. This is also a story about power imbalances and the difference in the ways society perceives successful white men and immigrant women of colour.
I really enjoyed this book and I recommend it to lit fic fans who can deal with a bit of gore.
September 6, 2023
3.5 stars. Orpheus Builds a Girl is a grotesque novel based on a real life disturbing crime that happened back in the 1940s. It has a dual perspective - one, a doctor who wants to conduct more experimental cures and operations but the hospital won't let him, and two, a young woman whose sister contracts TB and seeks out the help of the doctor to try and cure her. The doctor, upon meeting the sick sister, develops an obsession which completely shocks you to the core and becomes warped and horrific in the most disturbing ways possible.
The most interesting thing about this book was that it was based on a real life case and I found myself really drawn into the story - shocked and disturbed by what I was reading and constantly looking details up to find out if they were true. It is a horror novel which is very understated as there's no real scares or supernatural elements, rather the point of view of the doctor is so calm and collected that it really creeps you out how he speaks about Luci (the sick sister) and in his growing delusion the horror becomes more and more disgusting until you find yourself needing to take a break from the book.
It was really interesting getting the point of view of Luci's sister as it adding a lot of padding to the story. From the press there wasn't really much reported from the family's side of the affair and the doctor, up until recently, wasn't treated as the true villain that he was. Getting this secondary perspective greatly added to the story and it was a shock switching from the doctors very strange monologue to the sisters and sort of having the true horror revealed to you through her eyes where the doctor couldn't see it.
Giving this a 3.5 because I don't think it's a book I'd ever re-read again and despite it being super gross it hasn't really given me the wow-factor I was looking for based on other people's reviews but I still think it was a great book and I'm glad I read it. Really looking forward to reading more of Heather Parry's work as I can tell she is a talented writer.
The most interesting thing about this book was that it was based on a real life case and I found myself really drawn into the story - shocked and disturbed by what I was reading and constantly looking details up to find out if they were true. It is a horror novel which is very understated as there's no real scares or supernatural elements, rather the point of view of the doctor is so calm and collected that it really creeps you out how he speaks about Luci (the sick sister) and in his growing delusion the horror becomes more and more disgusting until you find yourself needing to take a break from the book.
It was really interesting getting the point of view of Luci's sister as it adding a lot of padding to the story. From the press there wasn't really much reported from the family's side of the affair and the doctor, up until recently, wasn't treated as the true villain that he was. Getting this secondary perspective greatly added to the story and it was a shock switching from the doctors very strange monologue to the sisters and sort of having the true horror revealed to you through her eyes where the doctor couldn't see it.
Giving this a 3.5 because I don't think it's a book I'd ever re-read again and despite it being super gross it hasn't really given me the wow-factor I was looking for based on other people's reviews but I still think it was a great book and I'm glad I read it. Really looking forward to reading more of Heather Parry's work as I can tell she is a talented writer.
October 28, 2022
The entire book's content disgusted me. "Orpheus Builds a Girl" consists of the more or less medical account of a Nazi doctor who dabbels in resurrection after emigrating to America and pretending to be Polish. These parts of the narrative are countered by the sister (Cuban immigrants) of this Nazi's future wife who he takes from her grave and revives. The dude was disgusting from the start and stayed disgusting til the end, he gave off all the red flags, it was just absolutely disgusting, her "sexy child's face" YUCK. The other narrator was okay but also annoying and I didn't even really fell sorry for the sister dying of tuberculosis. As a German, the part that took place in Germany also felt off to me, it didn't feel like Germany and even some of the names didn't make any sense. Overall this was way over the top and while it did remind me of "The Daughter of Doctor Moreau", but without the finesse, strong postcolonial stance, or even suspenseful story. You already knew where the story was going from the very beginning and as I said. I was disgusted throughout. Nothing surprising either, well written though.
March 6, 2024
edit: read this book again for a uni project and enjoyed it just as much as the first time!
i was so captivated by this book even though it slightly ruined my life!! a horrifying (but utterly compelling) story of possession and twisted love, wrapped up in a narrative that is deliciously macabre and brutally grotesque. 4 stars!!
i was so captivated by this book even though it slightly ruined my life!! a horrifying (but utterly compelling) story of possession and twisted love, wrapped up in a narrative that is deliciously macabre and brutally grotesque. 4 stars!!
July 27, 2025
4 1/5 stars.
I was enraptured with this book, reading it well into the night over the course of two evenings. I had to know what happened next! "Orpheus Builds A Girl" is a story of manipulation, obsession, medical abuse, Despite the dark and disturbing events in the second half of the book, the story is set on two beautiful sunny islands - that of Cuba in the 1950s, and Key West in the later decades.
Elena and Lucinda grow up two carefree daughters of Cuba, until their family is forced to flee to Florida at the rise of Castro. Finding their circumstances changed once in the US, the immigrant family struggles to fit into their new world. Unfortunately, they happen upon a creepy old man, Wilhelm, in the hospital, whose obsession with Luci takes over the narrative in an abusive and ultimately, repulsive way.
Readers with a squeamish stomach should stay away from the second half of the book, which is filled with graphic narratives of the creep handling the dead and decaying body as it decomposes. In addition, these scenes are described from Wilhelm's perspective, which is twisted in his love of the dead Luci.
I stumbled upon this book because I was attracted to the title. I knew Orpheus, but I didn't think he built a girl. He was the guy who went to hell and brought back his dead wife Eurydice. And then, palm to forehead smack, and it all came together.
The author's endnotes describes the historical origins of this story, and holy hell I must admit I was gob-smacked that the book's events closely parallel the real story of what became known as the Corpse Bride of Key West. Fucking hell, even worse! Florida Man!
I found an interesting write up of the real events here, with some telling photographs. https://historycollection.com/the-rea...
Many, many thanks to Netgalley and the author for this opportunity, and for Pushkin Press for re-releasing this amazing novel. I've found a new author to admire and follow, and I'm off to find her latest, Carrion Crow.
I was enraptured with this book, reading it well into the night over the course of two evenings. I had to know what happened next! "Orpheus Builds A Girl" is a story of manipulation, obsession, medical abuse, Despite the dark and disturbing events in the second half of the book, the story is set on two beautiful sunny islands - that of Cuba in the 1950s, and Key West in the later decades.
Elena and Lucinda grow up two carefree daughters of Cuba, until their family is forced to flee to Florida at the rise of Castro. Finding their circumstances changed once in the US, the immigrant family struggles to fit into their new world. Unfortunately, they happen upon a creepy old man, Wilhelm, in the hospital, whose obsession with Luci takes over the narrative in an abusive and ultimately, repulsive way.
Readers with a squeamish stomach should stay away from the second half of the book, which is filled with graphic narratives of the creep handling the dead and decaying body as it decomposes. In addition, these scenes are described from Wilhelm's perspective, which is twisted in his love of the dead Luci.
I stumbled upon this book because I was attracted to the title. I knew Orpheus, but I didn't think he built a girl. He was the guy who went to hell and brought back his dead wife Eurydice. And then, palm to forehead smack, and it all came together.
The author's endnotes describes the historical origins of this story, and holy hell I must admit I was gob-smacked that the book's events closely parallel the real story of what became known as the Corpse Bride of Key West. Fucking hell, even worse! Florida Man!
I found an interesting write up of the real events here, with some telling photographs. https://historycollection.com/the-rea...
Many, many thanks to Netgalley and the author for this opportunity, and for Pushkin Press for re-releasing this amazing novel. I've found a new author to admire and follow, and I'm off to find her latest, Carrion Crow.
September 11, 2025
Orpheus Builds a Girl by Heather Parry
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
3 stars
This was Heather Parry’s debut novel originally published in 2022. It is being re-released September 30, 2025 in paperback. This novel is inspired by true life events, specifically Carl Tanzer and his obsession with Maria Elena Milagros de Hoyos after she passed from tuberculosis.
The content of this book is grotesque and disturbing. However, I understood what I was getting into before picking it up. It is told from two points of view. The first from Dr. Wilhelm von Tore as he is reflecting back on his life and the second from Gabriela, the sister of Luci. Wilhelm fled his country with falsified documents. He finds work in the periphery of the medical field but is hyper focused on being able to do research and experiments. He finds the perfect fodder to feed his obsession when he has a chance meeting with Luci and her mother at his place of employment. Luci is there for a blood draw, staff is short handed and Wilhelm gets pulled in to get the samples.
Luci has tuberculosis and Wilhelm convinces Luci’s mother that he is an astute doctor who can treat and cure Luci. He insists that the hospital cannot cure her, that they aren’t willing to go above and beyond with treatment and that they will prolong her life while she suffers only to die anyway. Luci’s family (mostly her mother,) welcomes Wilhelm into their home to begin treating Luci.
Gabriela is suspicious and has never trusted Wilhelm. She tries to get her mother to intervene but she is so desperate for Luci to be healed that she allows herself to believe in Wilhelm. By the time the family figure out that Wilhelm is a nut job, it’s too late and they are essentially left helpless with Luci at the hands of Wilhelm.
For those of you that are well versed in history and WWII, you may know the story of Panzer and Maria and you’ll know what ends up happening. I won’t comment further because I don’t want to spoil anything.
As I said in the beginning this story is grotesque and it had a slow start. I think the author writes well and did an exceptional job of giving us Wilhem’s point of view (as delusional as it was,) and then having Gabriela’s input and her account of what happened. The difference in their realities is astounding but ultimately I’m left disappointed. Wilhelm’s character monopolizes this entire story. What about Luci? Without Luci there wouldn’t BE this story and the only information we get regarding Luci is told to us by her sister Gabriela.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the digital advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
3 stars
This was Heather Parry’s debut novel originally published in 2022. It is being re-released September 30, 2025 in paperback. This novel is inspired by true life events, specifically Carl Tanzer and his obsession with Maria Elena Milagros de Hoyos after she passed from tuberculosis.
The content of this book is grotesque and disturbing. However, I understood what I was getting into before picking it up. It is told from two points of view. The first from Dr. Wilhelm von Tore as he is reflecting back on his life and the second from Gabriela, the sister of Luci. Wilhelm fled his country with falsified documents. He finds work in the periphery of the medical field but is hyper focused on being able to do research and experiments. He finds the perfect fodder to feed his obsession when he has a chance meeting with Luci and her mother at his place of employment. Luci is there for a blood draw, staff is short handed and Wilhelm gets pulled in to get the samples.
Luci has tuberculosis and Wilhelm convinces Luci’s mother that he is an astute doctor who can treat and cure Luci. He insists that the hospital cannot cure her, that they aren’t willing to go above and beyond with treatment and that they will prolong her life while she suffers only to die anyway. Luci’s family (mostly her mother,) welcomes Wilhelm into their home to begin treating Luci.
Gabriela is suspicious and has never trusted Wilhelm. She tries to get her mother to intervene but she is so desperate for Luci to be healed that she allows herself to believe in Wilhelm. By the time the family figure out that Wilhelm is a nut job, it’s too late and they are essentially left helpless with Luci at the hands of Wilhelm.
For those of you that are well versed in history and WWII, you may know the story of Panzer and Maria and you’ll know what ends up happening. I won’t comment further because I don’t want to spoil anything.
As I said in the beginning this story is grotesque and it had a slow start. I think the author writes well and did an exceptional job of giving us Wilhem’s point of view (as delusional as it was,) and then having Gabriela’s input and her account of what happened. The difference in their realities is astounding but ultimately I’m left disappointed. Wilhelm’s character monopolizes this entire story. What about Luci? Without Luci there wouldn’t BE this story and the only information we get regarding Luci is told to us by her sister Gabriela.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the digital advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
October 9, 2025
another reason to choose the bear…full rtc.
2025 reads: 284/300
i received a digital review copy from the publisher via edelweiss & netgalley. i am leaving this review voluntarily.
as wilhelm von tore dies, he looks back on his life…his youth in dresden, his grandmother, his medical career during world war ii. most of all, though, he thinks back to his tragic love story with luci, a girl he knew was promised to him before they even met. through the cracks in his story, though, is the voice of gabriela, luciana’s sister who stopped at nothing to give her rest.
honestly, i almost DNF’d this a couple chapters in, because i hated being in wilhelm’s mind and the pace was too slow to be fully enjoyable. when i opened the book’s goodreads page, though, i reread the description and thought, okay, maybe i just need to tough it out. luckily, this worked out for the best, as this book got so much better! though the pace remained slow throughout, i found that i loved gabriela more than i hated wilhelm. i loved how hard gabriela fought for her sister even in death. luci was wilhelm’s patient, and she and her family felt indebted to him as he took her case for free. however, he would not leave this poor girl alone, going as far as to rob her from her grave in attempt to reanimate her (this is not a spoiler, this is a main part of the plot). overall, this was a chilling story of sisterhood, medical malpractice, and obsession attempting to disguise itself as love. i look forward to reading more from heather parry.
2025 reads: 284/300
i received a digital review copy from the publisher via edelweiss & netgalley. i am leaving this review voluntarily.
as wilhelm von tore dies, he looks back on his life…his youth in dresden, his grandmother, his medical career during world war ii. most of all, though, he thinks back to his tragic love story with luci, a girl he knew was promised to him before they even met. through the cracks in his story, though, is the voice of gabriela, luciana’s sister who stopped at nothing to give her rest.
honestly, i almost DNF’d this a couple chapters in, because i hated being in wilhelm’s mind and the pace was too slow to be fully enjoyable. when i opened the book’s goodreads page, though, i reread the description and thought, okay, maybe i just need to tough it out. luckily, this worked out for the best, as this book got so much better! though the pace remained slow throughout, i found that i loved gabriela more than i hated wilhelm. i loved how hard gabriela fought for her sister even in death. luci was wilhelm’s patient, and she and her family felt indebted to him as he took her case for free. however, he would not leave this poor girl alone, going as far as to rob her from her grave in attempt to reanimate her (this is not a spoiler, this is a main part of the plot). overall, this was a chilling story of sisterhood, medical malpractice, and obsession attempting to disguise itself as love. i look forward to reading more from heather parry.
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January 4, 2026I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time, I can’t believe it was based on a true story
February 22, 2025
2,5 ⭐️
A book about a terrible person that should have been suspenseful but ended up being gross and boring.
A book about a terrible person that should have been suspenseful but ended up being gross and boring.
October 9, 2022
Written as the memoirs of a German doctor in exile scarily obsessed with one of his teenage patients even after her death, and based on a gruesome true story, this is a perfect read for spooky season.
I loved the way this novel explored fascism's links to the control of the female body, and the social complicity that allows professional white men to wield power in the most horrific ways. It has one of the best unreliable narrators I've read and a counter-narrator in the shape of the victim's sister that humanises the woman the protagonist is determined to objectify.
Hugely compelling, cleverly written, and full of truly disturbing images of decaying corpses (I was internally screaming throughout the final third), if you can stomach it Orpheus Build A Girl is a must-read meditation on death, power and bodily autonomy, with the most beautiful cover I've seen this year.
I loved the way this novel explored fascism's links to the control of the female body, and the social complicity that allows professional white men to wield power in the most horrific ways. It has one of the best unreliable narrators I've read and a counter-narrator in the shape of the victim's sister that humanises the woman the protagonist is determined to objectify.
Hugely compelling, cleverly written, and full of truly disturbing images of decaying corpses (I was internally screaming throughout the final third), if you can stomach it Orpheus Build A Girl is a must-read meditation on death, power and bodily autonomy, with the most beautiful cover I've seen this year.
July 27, 2022
Orpheus builds a girl is an instant gothic classic. Parry’s deft mastery of dual narrators and unflinching attention to macabre and horrifying detail makes for a read both unsettling and compelling. A stark critique of the societal structures that allow powerful people to escape consequences, and brutally realistic answer to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; Orpheus Builds a Girl is a darker, more visceral, Modern Prometheus.
November 2, 2025
My tongue feels seized and stagnant in my mouth. God damn it. I really, really wanted to like this one.
What a deliciously disturbing premise, one that strikes at the core of so many of my favourite stories (reading Lolita changed my life)… such an important political sentiment weaved throughout, with compelling and at times quite gorgeous prose… and yet… and yettttt
So much of this story just dragged. How do you take a novel with such a powerful set up and manage to make any part of it boring? I’m searching myself as to how to best articulate this, but, I think the biggest downfall is just how detached the narration constantly feels. For something that should be so character driven, 3/4 of the book feels like it is nothing but exposition.
Exposition of a case that, I found out to my genuine disgust, is based in reality. In fact, very little of the novel’s story comes from Parry’s imagination. The facts of the real life case are barely changed, subverted or distorted - it is almost a beat by beat account. A beat by beat account in a book that waxes angrily against the exploitation of the dead for political or monetary gain? Against the exploitation and abuse of women’s bodies, of forcing words into their mouthes without their consent??
It just doesn’t sit fully right with me on a moral level, vaguely hypocritical, but on a writing level it perhaps strikes more at the heart of the problem for me. Why not read a real account of the real case? What does Parry’s novelisation really add, here? Particularly when so little has been altered… and I do feel like, as this IS based in reality, Parry perhaps held back from allowing her characters to be more multifaceted, for allowing the narration to play more with creativity, to step too far out of the bounds for fear of being disrespectful to the original subject matter.
As a result, so much of the book feels limply told. Luci is a bystander in her own story (which, again, is part of the point, perhaps, part of the horror), but despite there being a huge portion of the novel dedicated to her sister’s point of view we also barely end up getting to know the real her. I think the value of this different perspective could have been used to shock and intrigue us more, to really show that Gabriela knew Luci’s true humanity in contrast to Wilhelm’s objectification. Instead…
Honestly, I found Gabriela’s perspective quite patronising. It felt so redundant and unnecessary much of the time, which I feel so dirty thinking this given it is the closest thing we have to a woman’s voice within a novel so concerned with how women are silenced and stripped of their right to speak for themselves. But, alas, I felt that Gabriela was used more as a device to have us realise how disturbed and delusional Wilhelm is. It feels more like the author flinching and wanting to be clear that this is not some dark romance (akin to how prolifically Lolita is misinterpreted). I understand this fear, but I also feel like Luci’s perspective is so so so clear and Wilhelm is so obviously wrong, yes you have to do a TINY bit of reading between the lines but…. Come on.
However, I did find sections of the book genuinely page turning. Elements of Wilhelm’s deeply disturbing outlook was very convincingly told, offsetting times where it veered suspending my sense of disbelief. I ‘enjoyed’ my time with the book, hence the depths of my overall disappointment. SIGHHHH.
What a deliciously disturbing premise, one that strikes at the core of so many of my favourite stories (reading Lolita changed my life)… such an important political sentiment weaved throughout, with compelling and at times quite gorgeous prose… and yet… and yettttt
So much of this story just dragged. How do you take a novel with such a powerful set up and manage to make any part of it boring? I’m searching myself as to how to best articulate this, but, I think the biggest downfall is just how detached the narration constantly feels. For something that should be so character driven, 3/4 of the book feels like it is nothing but exposition.
Exposition of a case that, I found out to my genuine disgust, is based in reality. In fact, very little of the novel’s story comes from Parry’s imagination. The facts of the real life case are barely changed, subverted or distorted - it is almost a beat by beat account. A beat by beat account in a book that waxes angrily against the exploitation of the dead for political or monetary gain? Against the exploitation and abuse of women’s bodies, of forcing words into their mouthes without their consent??
It just doesn’t sit fully right with me on a moral level, vaguely hypocritical, but on a writing level it perhaps strikes more at the heart of the problem for me. Why not read a real account of the real case? What does Parry’s novelisation really add, here? Particularly when so little has been altered… and I do feel like, as this IS based in reality, Parry perhaps held back from allowing her characters to be more multifaceted, for allowing the narration to play more with creativity, to step too far out of the bounds for fear of being disrespectful to the original subject matter.
As a result, so much of the book feels limply told. Luci is a bystander in her own story (which, again, is part of the point, perhaps, part of the horror), but despite there being a huge portion of the novel dedicated to her sister’s point of view we also barely end up getting to know the real her. I think the value of this different perspective could have been used to shock and intrigue us more, to really show that Gabriela knew Luci’s true humanity in contrast to Wilhelm’s objectification. Instead…
Honestly, I found Gabriela’s perspective quite patronising. It felt so redundant and unnecessary much of the time, which I feel so dirty thinking this given it is the closest thing we have to a woman’s voice within a novel so concerned with how women are silenced and stripped of their right to speak for themselves. But, alas, I felt that Gabriela was used more as a device to have us realise how disturbed and delusional Wilhelm is. It feels more like the author flinching and wanting to be clear that this is not some dark romance (akin to how prolifically Lolita is misinterpreted). I understand this fear, but I also feel like Luci’s perspective is so so so clear and Wilhelm is so obviously wrong, yes you have to do a TINY bit of reading between the lines but…. Come on.
However, I did find sections of the book genuinely page turning. Elements of Wilhelm’s deeply disturbing outlook was very convincingly told, offsetting times where it veered suspending my sense of disbelief. I ‘enjoyed’ my time with the book, hence the depths of my overall disappointment. SIGHHHH.
October 22, 2025
Pretty unhinged and gross, definitely made for a horrifying read. The true story the author takes inspiration from is so messed up as well!
I struggled a bit as my copy had a ton of missing letters and words, but hopefully that all got fixed by the final edit.
This one isn’t for the faint of heart, it gets quite disgusting at times!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Pushkin Press for a copy!
I struggled a bit as my copy had a ton of missing letters and words, but hopefully that all got fixed by the final edit.
This one isn’t for the faint of heart, it gets quite disgusting at times!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Pushkin Press for a copy!
July 21, 2025
Thank you so much to PushkinPress & NetGalley for the e-arc!
3.75!
This was a tough one to rate as I wanted to know what went on and what would happen in the end given the two sort of narrations we get which tells us two different perspectives on the story, also different emotions. But I also did not want to read because I just could not stand Wilhelm at all.
I was more angry than anything as I read it and the felt it was based on a true story and with how it ended which makes the reader sort of wonder which is which or what to go with made me even angrier lol
3.75!
This was a tough one to rate as I wanted to know what went on and what would happen in the end given the two sort of narrations we get which tells us two different perspectives on the story, also different emotions. But I also did not want to read because I just could not stand Wilhelm at all.
I was more angry than anything as I read it and the felt it was based on a true story and with how it ended which makes the reader sort of wonder which is which or what to go with made me even angrier lol
August 6, 2023
One of those books that will ruin your life a little bit —
Imagine the grotesque of Frankenstein with the perverse obsession of Lolita, but with commentary on the role fascism and white supremacy play in the control of women’s bodies.
Imagine the grotesque of Frankenstein with the perverse obsession of Lolita, but with commentary on the role fascism and white supremacy play in the control of women’s bodies.
November 3, 2024
"I am here to tell you that devils exist."
This is, by far, one of the most disturbing books I have ever read.
This is, by far, one of the most disturbing books I have ever read.
August 17, 2025
If you ask me to describe this book, I will say it's a hauntingly beautiful story.
I can't believe that it's a debut and applause to Heather Parry for bringing such a story with characters that are unique and so well written.
I'm thoroughly impressed by the story and it'll have a special place in my heart. The author created such a masterpiece where character depth and emotions were portrayed.
There were moments when I had to take a pause where some scenes just made me so angry and emotional. I too became a silent spectator like Gabriela and this made me feel more closer to Gabriela's character.
This is truly a book that I'll remember for a very long time and has become one of my all time favorites!!!
I can't believe that it's a debut and applause to Heather Parry for bringing such a story with characters that are unique and so well written.
I'm thoroughly impressed by the story and it'll have a special place in my heart. The author created such a masterpiece where character depth and emotions were portrayed.
There were moments when I had to take a pause where some scenes just made me so angry and emotional. I too became a silent spectator like Gabriela and this made me feel more closer to Gabriela's character.
This is truly a book that I'll remember for a very long time and has become one of my all time favorites!!!
November 17, 2022
Based on the true story of Carl Tanzler, this is a shocking, thought-provoking and exciting new horror that does what the best do, pushes the boundaries of the genre.
Set in the 1970s in Key West, Floida, a German doctor who had worked for the Nazis in his youth, Wilhelm von Tore, becomes infatuated with a young Cuban woman, Luci, who he is treating for tuberculosis. When she dies, von Tore refuses to accept it, and takes matters into his own hands.
Parry is from Yorkshire, and her work is a modern take on classic gothic fiction, and though the idea, Frankenstein-esque, is of course not new, her approach is from a different angle. There are (welcomed) moments of hideous unpleasantness, though in a lenghty finale Parry leaves her reader with plenty to contemplate; firstly that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and a debate with more substance, what was the law, what is the law, and what should be the law..
Tanzler's case is far from being the only example of this sort of incident in history. Though it is probably the best known. Back in my youth, in our neighbourhood, a mother who lost a family member kept everything of her that was permitted at the time, the hair, teeth, fingernails, and used them to dress a doll to look like the deceased - and displayed it in a Wendy house in her garden.
Set in the 1970s in Key West, Floida, a German doctor who had worked for the Nazis in his youth, Wilhelm von Tore, becomes infatuated with a young Cuban woman, Luci, who he is treating for tuberculosis. When she dies, von Tore refuses to accept it, and takes matters into his own hands.
Parry is from Yorkshire, and her work is a modern take on classic gothic fiction, and though the idea, Frankenstein-esque, is of course not new, her approach is from a different angle. There are (welcomed) moments of hideous unpleasantness, though in a lenghty finale Parry leaves her reader with plenty to contemplate; firstly that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and a debate with more substance, what was the law, what is the law, and what should be the law..
Tanzler's case is far from being the only example of this sort of incident in history. Though it is probably the best known. Back in my youth, in our neighbourhood, a mother who lost a family member kept everything of her that was permitted at the time, the hair, teeth, fingernails, and used them to dress a doll to look like the deceased - and displayed it in a Wendy house in her garden.
November 3, 2022
An exceptional novel, one of the best books I’ve read in 2022. Twisted, compelling, horrifying, heartbreaking. This novel, based on a gruesome true story, questions just who a woman’s body belongs too. The dual narrative is so effective, exploring the dark, obsessive side of humanity in a so-called quest for science and on the other hand, a gut-wrenching tale of grief and family. I’ve read nothing like this before and yet it has all the hallmarks of a classic gothic tale. A really special novel.
August 21, 2023
This book made me so MAD. And that's exactly the point.
I literally finished this a few minutes ago so I might write a proper review once I've had time to chew over my feelings and thoughts (though I expect I continue to feel enraged).
I literally finished this a few minutes ago so I might write a proper review once I've had time to chew over my feelings and thoughts (though I expect I continue to feel enraged).
November 5, 2022
More like Orpheus Builds a Really Good Book, am I right???
August 1, 2025
Thank you to Steerforth and Pushkin for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Orpheus Builds a Girl by Heather Parry is listed as a horror fiction title, most likely due to some taboo-breaking unsavory actions on the part of one of the two narrators. However, it would be closer to list it as historical fiction, because it’s a fictionalization of a true story: that of Elena Milagro Hoyos. The author fills in details and dialogue, changing only a few of the major facts of the case in her own rendition.
Have you ever been stuck on a public bus next to someone raving at you wildly, and you know from the first second they start talking that something is very wrong? But you can’t seem to extricate yourself from the situation so you find yourself very much walled in, nervous and also annoyed that you seemingly can’t get out? That’s the literary equivalent of this book. Kudos to the author for creating a distinct voice for Wilhelm von Tore, because he’s a raving, racist, odious old crackpot who really does try to illicit sympathy. Gabi, by comparison, is an astute and observant breath of fresh air. There is no denial that this author was able to do the dual narrator style well because of such sharp delineation between not only the characters but their ways of speaking.
To me, the thing that I enjoyed most was the author’s decision not to have this set in the time period that the real counterparts lived, but several decades later. This served two purposes which actually were the best executed elements of the book for me; the implication that von Tore is a Nazi and the Cuban revolution forcing the family to Key West. I think this is where the author did her most artful creating; for the family it created an economic and cultural tension that starts wearing the family thin before von Tore ever appears in their life. I also thought that the author was sparing yet very deft with making sure that while von Tore never directly owned up to his Naziism, that the dogwhistles and historical allusions were there. It really underscored the fact that the character was underhanded, selfish, and fully willing to rewrite history for his own gain.
Unfortunately I did find that Orpheus Builds a Girl was not as successful in some of its aims as I would have hoped.
Before anything else, the real issue was the pace and action of the book was plodding verging on absolutely torturous at times. The events of the story happen very slowly, with lots of pseudo philosophy and context between moments. This is further heightened by the fact that half the narration is done in a style that’s persnickety, self aggrandizing, and overly explanatory. The character is already unsympathetic and his glacial pace of narration doesn’t help the feeling of being very much stuck.
Something that, for me, made this book very difficult to read, was that it is almost directly inspired from the real death and postmortem abuse of a real woman under very similar circumstances. In her real life and death this woman has been defined by her lack of agency, her tragic death, and horrible postmortem treatment by an old man who stalked her. Who she was has largely faded into the background under the mythology of the crimes against her. She was an object of morbid fascination, and was reduced to the undignified freak-show effigy she was reduced to. This book felt like, as she never speaks for herself and is always defined and observed by other people, that she and her story weren’t better understood or served. Effectively it felt like Elena Hoyos’ story was mined for trauma and macabre sexual details. Instead of creating insight into a young woman who had agency before things turned unspeakably grim, she is an idea or an object for most of the story. The sister character kept things from being egregious, but part of me felt more unsettled by how it felt like this wasn’t a fresh understanding on this story, but a rehashing of what a creep Carl Tanzler/Wilhelm Von Tore was. I think that there was a somewhat exploitative feeling to the story. Rather than add elements to create a new story or one that humanized, it felt like a too-similar rehashing without the empathy that this story called for.
My favorite parts of Orpheus Builds A Girl were where the author departed from the reference material and created her own depth and context. Unfortunately, I came away from this feeling like the treatment of the inspiration didn’t resonate with me. 2.75/5 rounded up to 3.
Orpheus Builds a Girl by Heather Parry is listed as a horror fiction title, most likely due to some taboo-breaking unsavory actions on the part of one of the two narrators. However, it would be closer to list it as historical fiction, because it’s a fictionalization of a true story: that of Elena Milagro Hoyos. The author fills in details and dialogue, changing only a few of the major facts of the case in her own rendition.
Have you ever been stuck on a public bus next to someone raving at you wildly, and you know from the first second they start talking that something is very wrong? But you can’t seem to extricate yourself from the situation so you find yourself very much walled in, nervous and also annoyed that you seemingly can’t get out? That’s the literary equivalent of this book. Kudos to the author for creating a distinct voice for Wilhelm von Tore, because he’s a raving, racist, odious old crackpot who really does try to illicit sympathy. Gabi, by comparison, is an astute and observant breath of fresh air. There is no denial that this author was able to do the dual narrator style well because of such sharp delineation between not only the characters but their ways of speaking.
To me, the thing that I enjoyed most was the author’s decision not to have this set in the time period that the real counterparts lived, but several decades later. This served two purposes which actually were the best executed elements of the book for me; the implication that von Tore is a Nazi and the Cuban revolution forcing the family to Key West. I think this is where the author did her most artful creating; for the family it created an economic and cultural tension that starts wearing the family thin before von Tore ever appears in their life. I also thought that the author was sparing yet very deft with making sure that while von Tore never directly owned up to his Naziism, that the dogwhistles and historical allusions were there. It really underscored the fact that the character was underhanded, selfish, and fully willing to rewrite history for his own gain.
Unfortunately I did find that Orpheus Builds a Girl was not as successful in some of its aims as I would have hoped.
Before anything else, the real issue was the pace and action of the book was plodding verging on absolutely torturous at times. The events of the story happen very slowly, with lots of pseudo philosophy and context between moments. This is further heightened by the fact that half the narration is done in a style that’s persnickety, self aggrandizing, and overly explanatory. The character is already unsympathetic and his glacial pace of narration doesn’t help the feeling of being very much stuck.
Something that, for me, made this book very difficult to read, was that it is almost directly inspired from the real death and postmortem abuse of a real woman under very similar circumstances. In her real life and death this woman has been defined by her lack of agency, her tragic death, and horrible postmortem treatment by an old man who stalked her. Who she was has largely faded into the background under the mythology of the crimes against her. She was an object of morbid fascination, and was reduced to the undignified freak-show effigy she was reduced to. This book felt like, as she never speaks for herself and is always defined and observed by other people, that she and her story weren’t better understood or served. Effectively it felt like Elena Hoyos’ story was mined for trauma and macabre sexual details. Instead of creating insight into a young woman who had agency before things turned unspeakably grim, she is an idea or an object for most of the story. The sister character kept things from being egregious, but part of me felt more unsettled by how it felt like this wasn’t a fresh understanding on this story, but a rehashing of what a creep Carl Tanzler/Wilhelm Von Tore was. I think that there was a somewhat exploitative feeling to the story. Rather than add elements to create a new story or one that humanized, it felt like a too-similar rehashing without the empathy that this story called for.
My favorite parts of Orpheus Builds A Girl were where the author departed from the reference material and created her own depth and context. Unfortunately, I came away from this feeling like the treatment of the inspiration didn’t resonate with me. 2.75/5 rounded up to 3.
December 13, 2025
I'm wary of fiction inspired by real events at the best of times. Orpheus Builds a Girl isn't as much inspired by the desecration of Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos as more of a beat for beat retelling of the terrible case. To quickly summarize: after having died from tuberculosis in her early 20s, de Hoyos' body was taken from her grave by a doctor 30 years her senior who had grown obsessed with her, and who subsequently lived with her corpse for seven years, trying to preserve it by making her into a grotesque wax puppet so "her spirit could reenter it." Not only that, after having been reclaimed by authorities and brought into a funeral home, her body was displayed for the public before, finally, being returned to the cemetery.
In her afterword, Heather Parry states that the central question of the novel is who owns a woman's body, both in the context of abortion and sensationalism. This, painfully clearly, is not the central question of the book, because it's never negotiated. The answer is already there, and I think the novel features many themes more prominently. The idea of narrative autonomy and power, for example, is different and handled more interestingly. Orpheus Builds a Girl features a preface written by Gabriela, the sister of Luciana (the character who suffers the same fate as Maria Elena), stating that the following pages contain the journal of von Tore, the doctor who did all these horrible things and got away without suffering consequences, supplemented by her own version of the events. Von Tore is immediately established as an unreliable narrator while the female voice is presented as the "rational" one, possibly even obfuscating that Gabriela might herself be unreliable - that's interesting.
In said preface, Gabriela laments that the story of Luciana's life, death, and desecration has only been told in a way that is still dominated by von Tore's narrative. The sensationalism surrounding Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos' case and body (and female bodies in general) is mentioned in the afterword as well. And here, I'm wondering if Heather Parry isn't culpable of doing the same thing: dragging de Hoyos' story into the public eye, displaying a literary version of her violated body with as many unsavory details as possible. I only learned how closely the author followed the events of the case after finishing the book and was super taken aback by that. I genuinely don't know how to feel about this yet and will have to let my thoughts settle a bit more.
From a literary standpoint, Orpheus Builds a Girl definitely develops some compelling and interesting themes and motifs - especially relics and worship. The church vis-à-vis religion and the question whether both constitute patriarchal institutions, devotion within and outside of publicly recognized channels, Luciana's as the much more powerful relic compared to a supposed saint's finger - it's all very compelling, albeit sometimes a little too on the nose or repeated ad nauseum. The novel also has this cool approach to unreliable narration I already mentioned where the obvious unreliable narrator might actually obfuscate a second one. On the other hand, I found the pacing pretty bad and a lot of the events and points of thematic emphasis repetitive.
This may not be much of a review, but I wanted to try to structure my complicated feelings a little bit. Don't know if I can translate my thoughts into a star rating yet.
In her afterword, Heather Parry states that the central question of the novel is who owns a woman's body, both in the context of abortion and sensationalism. This, painfully clearly, is not the central question of the book, because it's never negotiated. The answer is already there, and I think the novel features many themes more prominently. The idea of narrative autonomy and power, for example, is different and handled more interestingly. Orpheus Builds a Girl features a preface written by Gabriela, the sister of Luciana (the character who suffers the same fate as Maria Elena), stating that the following pages contain the journal of von Tore, the doctor who did all these horrible things and got away without suffering consequences, supplemented by her own version of the events. Von Tore is immediately established as an unreliable narrator while the female voice is presented as the "rational" one, possibly even obfuscating that Gabriela might herself be unreliable - that's interesting.
In said preface, Gabriela laments that the story of Luciana's life, death, and desecration has only been told in a way that is still dominated by von Tore's narrative. The sensationalism surrounding Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos' case and body (and female bodies in general) is mentioned in the afterword as well. And here, I'm wondering if Heather Parry isn't culpable of doing the same thing: dragging de Hoyos' story into the public eye, displaying a literary version of her violated body with as many unsavory details as possible. I only learned how closely the author followed the events of the case after finishing the book and was super taken aback by that. I genuinely don't know how to feel about this yet and will have to let my thoughts settle a bit more.
From a literary standpoint, Orpheus Builds a Girl definitely develops some compelling and interesting themes and motifs - especially relics and worship. The church vis-à-vis religion and the question whether both constitute patriarchal institutions, devotion within and outside of publicly recognized channels, Luciana's as the much more powerful relic compared to a supposed saint's finger - it's all very compelling, albeit sometimes a little too on the nose or repeated ad nauseum. The novel also has this cool approach to unreliable narration I already mentioned where the obvious unreliable narrator might actually obfuscate a second one. On the other hand, I found the pacing pretty bad and a lot of the events and points of thematic emphasis repetitive.
This may not be much of a review, but I wanted to try to structure my complicated feelings a little bit. Don't know if I can translate my thoughts into a star rating yet.
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