Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽'s Reviews > Come See the Living Dryad
Come See the Living Dryad
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4.5 stars. Free novella (not really a fantasy, more a dual timeline mystery) here on Tor.com. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature (along with six other short fiction reviews):
Dr. Daphne Levitt, an American university professor, travels to Great Britain to investigate the murder of one of her ancestors, Daphne Merwin, as part of a book she is writing. The Victorian-era Daphne suffered from an extremely rare genetic disease known as Lewandowsky-Lutz dysplasia or “Tree Man” disease, which can result in crippling wood-like growths, especially on the hands and feet. She ended up as the star attraction in a Victorian freak show, and was married to Professor Lewison Merwin, the proprietor of the quasi-scientific show. The police arrested a habitual drunk, semi-homeless man, Alfred Potts, for her murder, and he was hanged shortly after.
Dr. Levitt feels a connection to her ancestress, especially because she shares a milder form of the same disease. As she reviews the evidence, including a knife and a blood-stained nightgown, she realizes that it is pointing her to a different answer about the murder.
This novelette alternates between excerpts from Dr. Levitt’s book The British Freak Show at the Fin-de-Siècle, passages from the Victorian-era Daphne’s personal journal, and newspaper clippings and correspondence. Together, they create a sympathetic picture of a woman striving to live with dignity against all odds, and her great-great-granddaughter’s search for the truth.
Dr. Daphne Levitt, an American university professor, travels to Great Britain to investigate the murder of one of her ancestors, Daphne Merwin, as part of a book she is writing. The Victorian-era Daphne suffered from an extremely rare genetic disease known as Lewandowsky-Lutz dysplasia or “Tree Man” disease, which can result in crippling wood-like growths, especially on the hands and feet. She ended up as the star attraction in a Victorian freak show, and was married to Professor Lewison Merwin, the proprietor of the quasi-scientific show. The police arrested a habitual drunk, semi-homeless man, Alfred Potts, for her murder, and he was hanged shortly after.
Dr. Levitt feels a connection to her ancestress, especially because she shares a milder form of the same disease. As she reviews the evidence, including a knife and a blood-stained nightgown, she realizes that it is pointing her to a different answer about the murder.
This novelette alternates between excerpts from Dr. Levitt’s book The British Freak Show at the Fin-de-Siècle, passages from the Victorian-era Daphne’s personal journal, and newspaper clippings and correspondence. Together, they create a sympathetic picture of a woman striving to live with dignity against all odds, and her great-great-granddaughter’s search for the truth.
I would rather be back on the streets of London, begging for crusts of bread. Am I insensate, a piece of wood for him to move about as he wishes? Am I the mythical creature he likes to call me? No, I am human, whatever I may appear to be. I breathe, I feel, I love.Although Tor calls this a fantasy, it’s not actually speculative fiction. Tree Man disease is an actual disorder; a Google image search shows heartrending images of a few people who suffer from this disease. But Theodora Goss has written a touching, quietly tragic tale of a woman who yearned to be seen as human, not as just a strange curiosity.
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Reading Progress
April 2, 2017
–
Started Reading
April 2, 2017
–
Finished Reading
April 3, 2017
– Shelved
April 3, 2017
– Shelved as:
the-shorts
April 3, 2017
– Shelved as:
tor-tor-tor
April 3, 2017
– Shelved as:
victorian
April 3, 2017
– Shelved as:
mystery
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Marquise
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Apr 03, 2017 04:50PM
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I read three of them tonight:
"Princess Lucinda and the Hound of the Moon" - a nice fairy tale/princess mashup.
"Pip and the Fairies" - about the child of an author of fairy tales, and how they've affected her life. Very good!
"Singing of Mount Abora" - inspired by Coleridge's Kubla Khan. Really wonderful - I recommend it highly! My favorite of the three. I need to go reread Kubla Khan and then read this story again.
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![Marquise](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1712278162p1/4674014.jpg)
Have that one to read after the chunkster I'm reading now. Thanks for the links! Bookmarking the page now.
By the way, I found her in Beyond the Woods: Fairy Tales Retold. :)
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