The small Belgian village of Wolfheim turns out almost to a person to greet the returning Dr. Victor Hoppe after a spell of 20 years in academia. With him are his three baby sons, each one, (some might say), blighted with the physical characteristics of their father: hair-lipped and bright red hair. There’s no sign of his wife, their mother, so over time, Wolfheim’s residents crank up the rumour mill, each trying to outdo the other with their possibly uninformed knowledge and ill-mannered hypotheses.

Did you know that Victor grew up in an asylum? That his mother died of insanity and, oh yes, that his father killed himself? Why won’t he mingle? Why does he keep the children indoors?

Victor has chosen to live once more in a village seemingly bored by its own company, its residents mesmerised by the return of a mysterious and strange character to its midst, locals in ignorant awe of Victor’s scientific background, in fear of God, with some elders predicting catastrophe for the village after simply glimpsing Victor’s disfigured children, but all of whom are reluctantly happy that Wolfheim has another family doctor.

Frau Maenhout is surprisingly tasked with looking after the children by Herr Doktor, (much to the chagrin of the village’s meddlesome women, some of whom secretly wished to be offered that role), and the first part of the book details her growing fascination and relationship with the aptly named triplets, Michael, Raphael and Gabriel, each of whom wears a colour-coded wristband, for even their father cannot tell them apart. Frau Maenhout’s love and respect for the triplets develops as she moves from simply baby-sitting duties to teaching.

As their intellect and personalities shine through their once cold and emotionless exteriors, she senses that all is not right in the Hoppe household. She questions Victor’s startlingly cold indifference to his sons. Herr Doktor prefers to remain in his laboratory, lost in his work, evidence of which Frau Maenhout concludes, manifests itself in Victor’s fragile, almost telepathic offspring.

The second part of the book shows us Victor’s childhood and subsequent academic life. Abandoned by his own father, he did indeed live in an asylum for several years under the strict and regimented tutelage of a sisterhood of nuns. Victor was seen as feeble-minded, when in fact he was suffering with Asperger’s Syndrome, a mild form of autism, wherein the afflicted demonstrate severe deficiencies in socialisation, imagination and communication skills – traits his sons appear to have inherited. This and the teachings of the nuns, (Jesus is good because he died for us, God is bad because he abandoned his son), means Victor grows up with strong views on right and wrong, good and evil, but not much in between.

In academia, Victor stands out from the crowd, his narrow-minded and incredibly focused work soon produces results and the word ‘genius’ is bandied around in the appropriate circles. He successfully and quickly clones mice, seemingly without regard for scientific protocol. He has not the time for repeated testing and results, testing and results. He must move ever onwards, forging his own path, and Victor’s scientific work becomes a personal, introspective blur of religious and creative dogma…

The final section returns us to the present as characters from Victor’s past become involved through their long-harboured guilt and curiosity, and the truth behind his secretive approach to life, work and the upbringing of his sons is revealed. These elements comprise a somewhat predictable finale, as the reader has access to all the perspectives and sub-plots of the story, but there is a very satisfying climax, which occurs in a fittingly Grand Guignol fashion.

Stefan Brijs has created multiple deep characterisations across the main protagonists and bit-players, and a very personal, morally clouded world of scientific experimentation, flavoured with a gleeful faux-gothic feel to the whispering town of Wolfheim and its gossipy-God-fearing residents. Recommended to those who fancy a decent and timely discussion on the neverending uneasy stand-off between science and faith, and especially to those who like their villains secretive, moody, desperately driven and unreadable; like a certain other Victor perhaps?

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