Mary or The Birth of Frankenstein by Anne Eekhout

Mary or The Birth of Frankenstein by Anne Eekhout
UK Publication: December 2023
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★]

This ARC was provided by Bolinda Audio(via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

Monstrously good!

Synopsis from Goodreads: Gothic, fantasy-tinged historical fiction, delving back into the teenage years of Mary Shelley to find the inspiration for Frankenstein

There is a beast inside her, a monster. It wants to scream, it wants to tear things apart.

Scotland, 1812.

When Mary is sent to the countryside for her health, she soon finds herself falling for Isabella, the brooding, grief-stricken eldest daughter of the Baxter family. While the girls explore the local countryside that has harboured stories of witches, ghosts and monsters for centuries, they come across a creature unlike anything they’ve seen before…

Switzerland, 1816.

In the famous year without a summer, Mary is caught between her husband’s ideals of free love, her stepsister’s narcissism and the immense anguish she feels for her recently lost child. While her daysare filled with strife, she spends the intoxicated, laudanum-filled nights sharing ghost stories. As Mary grapples with the inspiration for her famous novel amid the mists of oblivion, a flash of memory takes her back to her time in Scotland, and also to David Booth, the ominous man who took a sinister interest in Mary and Isabella…

Provocative, sensual and dark, Mary; or, the Birth of Frankenstein is a hypnotic ode to the power of the imagination

My Thoughts:I listened to the Bolinda Audio book Narrated by Anna Burnett and this was a great way to make the cleaning go by in a Flash (those in the UK will know what I mean). Burnett has the perfect voice for a teenage girl who is far more grown up than she should be.

Instead of concentrating on the famous night that Frankenstein was born Eekhout instead looks at Mary’s life leading up to this event and in particular a stay in superstitious Scotland that has preyed on her mind ever since.

The inspiration for Frankenstein is the point of this book but we are also given an insight into the unusual relationships between Mary, her sister, Percy Shelley and of course the infamous Lord Byron. This time round we get to see Mary’s inner thoughts and how she really feels about the loss of her child, her writing and of course the men in her life.

Well researched fiction that feels believable and really brings Mary to life. A book that has made me want to read more about Mary and that is the best thing a book can give you a desire to read more.

Who would like this? I would recommend this to gothic fiction fans, fans of superstitions and of course anyone interested in Mary Shelley.

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