acantha's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
joannalouise's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, War, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, and Drug use
Moderate: Death of parent
ewriterm's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
13rebecca13's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I very rarely read historical fiction but I always make an exception for books about Mary Shelley. I've read two others this year (Our Hideous Progeny by C. E. McGill and Reproduction by Louisa Hall) and I really enjoyed them so I was excited for this take.
Mary; or the Birth of Frankenstein is told from two timelines. In 1816, Mary, her husband Percy, their baby son and stepsister Claire, are at the residence of Lord Byron at Lake Geneva where there are fellow poets in attendance. They begin to exchange ghost stories. When challenged to write the best horror story, Mary remembers another time in her life, four years earlier in Dundee, Scotland where she joins the Baxter family, instantly having a rapport with Isabella, the daughter who is still in grieving after losing her mother.
The family exchange stories in a similar way, these can be fiction or non-fiction. Mary takes things that have happened on her adventures and embellishes them a little. The girls spend their time outdoors and eventually happen upon a monster of sorts and they debate what is true. The relationship grows deeper between Mary and Isabella but Isabella's brother-in-law Mr Booth, who Mary has her doubts about, has been watching them. This encourages Mary Shelley to write her famous Frankenstein novel.
This is translated from Dutch by Laura Watkinson and it is just absolutely gorgeous. I fell so quickly into the story and I actually had to keep reminding myself that it was fiction. In true gothic style, you have that sinister feeling right from the beginning and it flows beautifully. You feel a real change in Mary in just four short years, especially after losing a child rising. It is dark, moody and just stunning.
Mary; or the Birth of Frankenstein is told from two timelines. In 1816, Mary, her husband Percy, their baby son and stepsister Claire, are at the residence of Lord Byron at Lake Geneva where there are fellow poets in attendance. They begin to exchange ghost stories. When challenged to write the best horror story, Mary remembers another time in her life, four years earlier in Dundee, Scotland where she joins the Baxter family, instantly having a rapport with Isabella, the daughter who is still in grieving after losing her mother.
The family exchange stories in a similar way, these can be fiction or non-fiction. Mary takes things that have happened on her adventures and embellishes them a little. The girls spend their time outdoors and eventually happen upon a monster of sorts and they debate what is true. The relationship grows deeper between Mary and Isabella but Isabella's brother-in-law Mr Booth, who Mary has her doubts about, has been watching them. This encourages Mary Shelley to write her famous Frankenstein novel.
This is translated from Dutch by Laura Watkinson and it is just absolutely gorgeous. I fell so quickly into the story and I actually had to keep reminding myself that it was fiction. In true gothic style, you have that sinister feeling right from the beginning and it flows beautifully. You feel a real change in Mary in just four short years, especially after losing a child rising. It is dark, moody and just stunning.
the_coycaterpillar_reads's review against another edition
Very very slow
Not at all what i'd expected
Not at all what i'd expected
laurareadsdaily's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
writteninthestarwars's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Many thanks to Pushkin Press for sending me a copy for review!
Set during two formative times of her life, Mary; or the Birth of Frankenstein reimagines Mary Shelley's journey to the creation of her first and most brilliant monster.
I remember distinctly the first time I read Frankenstein because it was for school and I resented the fact I had to spend my summer holiday reading a book I hadn't chosen for myself. Even though I, at fifteen, didn't completely understand the whole of the story, its essence stayed with me for years. And Mary Shelley herself always found ways of creeping back into my life — even making a distinct appearance in my PhD thesis via one of her other monsters, The Last Man. Reading Mary; or the Birth of Frankenstein felt like coming a bit closer to the woman who has haunted the back of my mind for the past fourteen years.
Though much of this story is fiction, exaggerated and made up, I do feel like it grasps the heart of what we know about Mary Shelley. It explores aspects of her others aren't always keen to explore. It dives deep into the messy parts of love and yearning and grief. It shows, very clearly in my opinion, the sadness of Frankenstein in a way that is often hard to grasp. And it does all of this with some of the most beautiful prose I have read in a long time. Whether in the third person of Mary's life with Percy or in the first of her imagined journals detailing her months as a young teenager in Scotland, the narrative kept me engaged and intrigued and constantly reaching for a pen to note down new favourite lines.
But one of the best parts of this book to me was the fact that it gave me a new perspective from which to view Mary's life and, especially, her most famous work. It made me want to reread Frankenstein under a new light, to see it with the knowledge of everything Mary had lost when she'd wrote it, of everything, maybe, she was already afraid of losing. I firmly believe that some of the best books make you yearn for more, and I truly believe this one will do just that. I hope it inspires people to read not only Frankenstein but Mary Shelley's other work. She was a gift to the literary world, and I think sometimes we forget that.
This book most certainly does not.
Set during two formative times of her life, Mary; or the Birth of Frankenstein reimagines Mary Shelley's journey to the creation of her first and most brilliant monster.
I remember distinctly the first time I read Frankenstein because it was for school and I resented the fact I had to spend my summer holiday reading a book I hadn't chosen for myself. Even though I, at fifteen, didn't completely understand the whole of the story, its essence stayed with me for years. And Mary Shelley herself always found ways of creeping back into my life — even making a distinct appearance in my PhD thesis via one of her other monsters, The Last Man. Reading Mary; or the Birth of Frankenstein felt like coming a bit closer to the woman who has haunted the back of my mind for the past fourteen years.
Though much of this story is fiction, exaggerated and made up, I do feel like it grasps the heart of what we know about Mary Shelley. It explores aspects of her others aren't always keen to explore. It dives deep into the messy parts of love and yearning and grief. It shows, very clearly in my opinion, the sadness of Frankenstein in a way that is often hard to grasp. And it does all of this with some of the most beautiful prose I have read in a long time. Whether in the third person of Mary's life with Percy or in the first of her imagined journals detailing her months as a young teenager in Scotland, the narrative kept me engaged and intrigued and constantly reaching for a pen to note down new favourite lines.
But one of the best parts of this book to me was the fact that it gave me a new perspective from which to view Mary's life and, especially, her most famous work. It made me want to reread Frankenstein under a new light, to see it with the knowledge of everything Mary had lost when she'd wrote it, of everything, maybe, she was already afraid of losing. I firmly believe that some of the best books make you yearn for more, and I truly believe this one will do just that. I hope it inspires people to read not only Frankenstein but Mary Shelley's other work. She was a gift to the literary world, and I think sometimes we forget that.
This book most certainly does not.
bbboeken's review against another edition
3.0
***1/2
Mooi en meeslepend geschreven, voldoende creatief en fantasierijk en helemaal passend binnen de romantische (als periode) verwachtingen, maar soms een iets te hoog David-Hamiltongehalte. Deed mij een beetje denken aan _Alone_ van Edgar Allan Poe.
Mooi en meeslepend geschreven, voldoende creatief en fantasierijk en helemaal passend binnen de romantische (als periode) verwachtingen, maar soms een iets te hoog David-Hamiltongehalte. Deed mij een beetje denken aan _Alone_ van Edgar Allan Poe.