Synopsis

In a city on the brink of revolution, science and passion offer their own strains of violence.

Petrograd, 1916 After her aristocratic family’s fall from fortune, Mariya is desperate to survive – and to support her widowed mother and sisters. Matters alleviate when she finds work as an assistant to Dr. Nikolas Rodin, a reclusive scientist. Though the job makes ends meet, she is soon pulled into his strange and secretive world: a world of flickering gaslights, whispered experiments, and a man whose brilliance is as alluring as it is unstable.

Tuberculosis and revolution both ravage Russia. And as political unrest swells and illness creeps closer, Mariya finds herself torn between a future of safety and a love that threatens to unravel everything. But in the dark corridors of the laboratory, nothing is as it seems – and the line between devotion and danger disappears entirely.

Darkly romantic and steeped in suspense, THE LABORATORY ASSISTANT explores the perilous chemistry of desire, madness, and the choices that haunt us.

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Review

Set in the early 1900s in Petrograd, this gothic novel follows Mariya and her family in the quest to stay alive in this war torn area.

Mariya’s family was aristocratic due to her father’s position in the army. However, once he dies, life becomes much harder for them, and Mariya is trying to support them the best she can. Her mother has consumption (tuberculosis) and isn’t able to work, so it falls on her to support the family. She has two younger sisters. One is in secretarial school, and the other is young and in school. Mariya is lucky and is able to land a position with a doctor that can’t seem to keep assistants. The truth is unraveled, but never full explained. Along the way, she falls in love with the doctor, and overlooks his foibles despite the impact that they have on her.

This novel was intriguing, and I found myself concerned for the family. They were living a meager existence in Petrograd, and this was about the time of the rise of the Bolsheviks and the Russian Revolution. While the focus on this aspect was minor, it was something the characters had to be concerned about for their safety and wellbeing.

This novel addresses mental health, and the search for a cure for consumption. Not a lot was known about this illness, and they thought it was hereditary. Dr. Nikolas Rodin lost a fiancée to this disease and was on a quest to discover a cure. Did he? Or did he discover something that was a temporary measure?

I was engaged with this novel, but do feel like some of my questions were not answered. There are a few spicier scenes that bring together Mariya and Nikolas, but I felt like their romance was a minor part of the overall story. Sofia, Mariya’s sister, is torn between getting involved with the revolution and helping her family. I did like Viktor’s character. He was Nikolas’ lifelong friend, and he owed a lot to him, but was he helping or hurting the situation?

I also thought it odd that at times, the characters were not called by their name, but by the jobs – the assistant, the psychiatrist, etc. This threw me off at times since the flow of the paragraphs was interrupted.

It was an intriguing book, and we give it 3 1/2 paws up. It would be good for anyone who enjoys gothic novels with a side of romance and a tiny bit of horror.

About the Author

Natalia Loya is lawyer/writer/amateur guitarist. When not wrangling legal briefs or weaving works of fiction, she’s usually out on a run or working on her Not Terrible Flamenco guitar skills. Her work blends her love of feminist history, emotional depth, and magical realism. She lives in Texas with her husband and three dogs.

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