Once a Monster

An enthralling, moving, ponderous, sad, and hopeful novel about otherness, poverty, and friendship, Once a Monster is a wonderful literary historical fantasy.

This novel feels like a Dickens novel with just a slight bit of modernity thrown in, similar to, for example, Fingersmith. What reminded me of Dickens, and what I loved about it, was the descriptions - you could feel the grime of the city, taste the cold, picture everything so clearly. It was extremely realistic and depicted a world that wasn’t so long ago, where children, upon being orphaned, literally had to wander in the streets.

When it comes to the characters, they were very Dickensian as well. We have an orphan, a scrappy little thing that is quietly tough and resolute. We have a woman treated poorly who is hiding a secret. We have a wretched older man who cares nothing for others. We also have a doctor and a scholar. All of these we’ve seen in various Dickens books … but then we have the Minotaur, who doesn’t really fit. But that’s kind of the point - he’s not supposed to fit. He’s supposed to be out of place, a person out of time.

As such, this novel is about otherness broadly, about how abuse and solitude and telling someone they are a monster will turn them into the things we say they are. But it’s also about how friendship and kindness can bring someone back from that, how the true villains are those who prey on goodness.

I loved Nell - she didn’t feel anachronistic or a passive character. She has real goals and needs in her life - she’s not just a foil for the minotaur. Murdstone, the antagonist, was great because there were moments when you felt a bit sorry for him, when you understood him. You don’t like him, but he has moments of humanity that break through, making him realistic and with a clear personality. The Minotaur himself was easy to understand but harder to know - because he doesn’t know himself. It was great to see him regain his humanity and struggle to keep it.

The writing is also a great balance of vividly descriptive and lyrical, with lines such as “grief is the echo love leaves in its wake.” (This line might be different or removed in the final text, as I read an ARC).

There’s also the way the novel parallels the original myth - conflating who is a hero and featuring a climax in a different sort of labyrinth - but not where it’s completely obvious while you’re reading it. Only upon reflection was I like, “Oh, I see what you did there.”

Overall, if you love a big juicy historical fiction with a very slight fantastical element, the Minotaur, or love picking crap out of the river and selling it, this is the book for you!

“Once a Monster” is a dark, Dickensian tale of ambition, betrayal and greed. “Once a Monster” is also a story of loss, friendship, hope, and stories.

Given into the care of Mr. Murdstone by her dying seamstress mother, Nell works, with a team of other children, as a mudlark. They all surrender their finds to Murdstone (a Fagin-like guy), who sells them, pockets most of the cash for himself, and keeps the children dependent on him for a warm place to sleep and some food. It’s not the life Nell expected, or wanted. Her mother sewed costumes for dancers, which Nell desperately wants to be after getting a chance to watch dancers perform, and even got to stand on a stage when a dancer kindly offered her the opportunity. Nell has a prized pair of ballet shoes, which she hides in her mattress from the other kids and Mr. Murdstone.

Everything changes when Nell finds a man severely beaten in the river. He’s massive, and doesn’t look quite human with a protruding lower jaw and possible small horns on his head. Nell forces the other kids to help her get the man out of the water and into a cave. When Noah, the eldest in the gang, betrays her to Murdstone, the gang boss plots to use the giant, who calls himself Minos, as a way to restore his ailing finances, which he has depleted buying all manner of quack tonics for his failing, ailing body.

At the same time, a dancer arrives from Paris, and sets herself up as a teacher for middle class and wealthier clients. She’s got secrets, and ambitions.

Nell, Minos, Murdstone, and Sophie Chretien’s lives all end up entwined, as Murdstone schemes to pass Minos off as the Minotaur (the one that Theseus killed with Ariadne’s help). This would not seem so crazy as Minos, through dreams and gradually surfacing memories, remembers the Labyrinth, and numerous other things he experienced over hundreds of years.

These memories, or nightmares, force him to confront who and what he wants to be, while Nell strives to be the only thing she’s ever wanted to be, and Sophie finds ways to be free to dance. Their journeys take them from the Thames then through darkness and much struggle and danger before they all achieve their aims through hard work, hope and friendship.

It’s a beautifully written and paced story, with fantastic atmosphere and historical detail. I particularly liked how author Dinsdale handled the Minotaur myth, offering an explanation of the remarkable way the half-man, half-beast survived Theseus, and made his long way from the labyrinth to London, and became the beloved friend of young Nell.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Pan Macmillan for this ARC in exchange for my review.