- My Dear Henry: A Jekyll & Hyde Remix
- by Kalynn Bayron
- Narrated by Clifford Samuel
- Publisher: Macmillan | Macmillan Young Listeners
- Publication Date: March 7, 2023
- ISBN: 9781250877239
Part of the Remixed Classics series, this latest work from author Kalynn Bayron updates Robert Louis Stephenson’s classic gothic novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for a modern young adult audience. In Bayron’s version, narrator Gabriel Utterson is a young medical student rather than an attorney; however, conflict arises because he is also African American and queer and dealing with the racism and homophobia of late 19th-century London. After he and his best friend, Henry Jekyll, are expelled from the London Medical School amid rumors of their relationship, Henry begins growing increasingly distant from Gabriel about the same time as the mysterious Hyde shows up. Despite Gabriel’s jealousy of Hyde, who seems to live at Henry’s house, he begins to realize something is not quite right and becomes determined to discover what is going on with his friend.
Clifford Samuel does an extraordinary job narrating as his deep voice perfectly suits the dark mood and gothic atmosphere of this story that reveals that monsters aren’t always the ones you think they are, especially in a society where your worth is determined by the color of your skin and whom you choose to love. Fans of The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein and Self-Made Boys, as well as Bayron’s other works are likely to find appeal in this book.
-Jennifer Balke
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