Dear Readers,

It’s been a while between books, but I’m back now and trying something new. My first YA (Young Adult) novel, entitled The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mademoiselle Odile is now out (with another in the Shadow Sisters series to follow in 2013!).

Ok, so… As you may have already guessed from the title, the new YA novel imagines an encounter between Robert Louis Stevenson’s fictional Doctor Henry Jekyll and a French peasant girl, Odile. The time? 1871. The place? Paris, still reeling in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War.

The young Doctor Jekyll and Odile meet in war-torn Paris where he is now trapped, having fled disgrace in London owing to his research into the “transcendental.” He is living in luxury in his rented mansion; meanwhile, Odile, come to Paris from the country with her sickly younger brother, Gréluchon, after the murder of their parents, is doing all she can to survive on the streets. At first, that means working with a butcher’s son in selling rats to the starving people of Paris. Later, Odile finds herself cooperating with a very curious Henry Jekyll once he develops an interest – a profound and unsettling interest — in certain secrets Odile has been bequeathed by her mother, an accused witch.

Is Odile herself a witch? Well, that’s precisely what she and Henry Jekyll, both, want to find out. And here’s hoping that same question will be of interest to you, too, reader, once you enter my shadowy prequel to one of the all-time great, gothic reads, Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde.

Intrigued? Start reading here.

This newly redone website offers much information on my books for adults as well, the Herculine Trilogy – The Book of Shadows, The Book of Spirits and The Witchery — and The Dracula Dossier. I hope you’ll find the time to look around a bit, whether you’re new to my Adult work, my Young Adult work, or both, …or maybe it’s just been a while since you’ve visited the site. (In which case, be sure to check out the International Editions to see recent translations from around the world.)

Please be sure to look for and like me on Facebook as well; and, finally, I need your help in building this new site. Once you’ve read The Strange Case, feel free to send me questions I can answer on the Q&A page. And, of course, please feel free to write me via Facebook or email me anytime. It’s always a great joy to hear from readers.

Thanks for your interest in my work, and Happy Reading,

James Reese

March 2012

Photo © Sigrid Estrada