A letter introducing the book

Dear Reader,
A few years ago I re-read Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and was consumed by the world of Quasimodo. It is a beautiful, heartbreaking novel and, like all good books should do, it got me thinking: what is it about the other that we fear? Why do we sometimes look away from those with a handicap or disfigurement? Can we truly love someone for what we find inside them despite their appearance? What are the qualities of a hero? I couldn't get the Hunchback from my mind and toyed with the idea of a modern retelling of the story, but then decided that was not the right route--Hugo had already written a novel for the ages. But how about a novel influenced by his story? And then I imagined a hunchback child, born with the ugliness of Quasimodo, but with an interesting evolutionary trait--he is able to change his shape and look beautiful, look like other people, and fit in, but after a few hours his body returns to its previous ugliness. The character quickly took shape from there. I have a resolute fondness for the Victorian era. It seemed a time of vibrant imagination and endless possibility and the authors of that age created such wonderful literature: Jules Verne, Charles Dickens, H.G. Wells. Much of our modern day science fiction and fantasy draws its roots from those works. So it seemed the perfect era in which to place my re-imagined hunchback. He would need a father figure, of course, so I pictured a British lord finding the young child and raising him to be a spy for a secret organization. And so, Modo, the hunchback came to life. He is gentle, intelligent, trained for battle, yet a bookworm; ugly and beautiful, tough and idealistic. I've become quite attached to the young fellow. I hope you enjoy your acquaintance with him.
Sincerely,
Arthur Slade