Dr Jekyll and Mr Seek, Anthony O’Neill’s sequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde, is a compelling read, writes KATHERINE SANKEY
Dr Jekyll and Mr Seek, written by the Australian author Anthony O’Neill, is a short and suspenseful novel, that continues the tale of Dr Jekyll and his lawyer friend, Gabriel Utterson.
The book opens with Utterson on the cusp of inheriting Jekyll’s estate, with the doctor about to be declared dead, having been absent for seven years. Utterson plans to move into his old friend’s home, and gift his own house to a widowed lady who he loved in his youth.
His ideas are thrown into jeopardy, however, when he discovers that a stranger has suddenly moved into the building. When he goes to confront the squatter, he is instead greeted by a curt butler called Baxter, who eventually informs him that the house has been reclaimed by Henry Jekyll.
Utterson, of course, knows this cannot be true. He read Jekyll’s final confession, and knows the doctor died along with Hyde. Unwilling to admit this secret, but convinced the man is an imposter, he tries to have the man removed.
Unfortunately it seems that everyone within their circle of friends, having met this new man, all agree that he is the real Henry Jekyll. Even Poole, his old butler, who now works for Utterson, appears convinced.
The rest of the novel follows the lawyer, as he attempts to prove that the man claiming to be the good doctor is in fact an interloper, a scam artist and even a murderer. However, as the novel progresses, the evidence increasingly suggests that Utterson might be wrong, that he might even be losing his grip on his sanity.
Altogether, I found this book hard to put down, as it kept me wondering if Jekyll was truly an imposter or if Utterson was in fact descending into paranoia.
I thought the writing was atmospheric and really captured the time period. There were some great descriptions throughout the book, for example, there was a line that compared the mist in a graveyard to a departing soul.
O’Neill also pays homage to the original work through the structure of his novel, mirroring the beginning and end of Stevenson’s book, by starting with Enfield and Utterson on a walk and ending it with a written statement. He also includes a brief trip to Edinburgh, Stevenson’s home city, in the story.
It is worth noting though, that Dr Jekyll and Mr Seek is not simply a direct continuation of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Its narrative takes a bold new direction, moving away from horror and science fiction, and ends with a twist that recontextualises both novels.
While I was unsure about this conclusion at first, I must admit that it is very clever. O’Neill utilises the audience’s expectations and knowledge of the original to his advantage, allowing him to surprise the reader at the end.
The result is a wonderfully written thriller that creates a sense of mystery and shock, similar I imagine, to how readers’ of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde must have felt when it was first published.
Moreover, like Stevenson’s tale, the narrative becomes at once more chilling and tragic when the truth is revealed. It is definitely a book that I intend to read again, so that I can appreciate the story in a new light.
All in all, I can highly recommend Dr Jekyll and Mr. Seek to fans of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It might not be horror like its predecessor, but it will still keep you reading late into the night!
