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Mary and the Birth of Frankenstein
A novel of innocence, young love, and gothic mystery that is a sapphic reimagining of Mary Shelley’s life, and a wonderfully imaginative exploration of the roots of her literary masterpiece, Frankenstein. Europe, 1816. A volcanic eruption in Indonesia envelopes the continent in ash and clouds. Amid the gloom of this “year without summer,” eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley, her lover Percy Bysshe Shelley, their baby boy William, and her stepsister Claire visit Lord Byron and his companion John Polidori at Lake Geneva. The friends spend rainy wine-soaked evenings around the fireplace, exchanging ghost stories. One night, Byron issues a challenge to determine which of them can write the best horror story of their own. Musing over her tale, Mary is reminded of another summer, when she was fourteen. A guest of the Baxter family, Mary arrives in Dundee, Scotland, and quickly falls into a warm friendship with young Isabella Baxter. The girls spend hours together wandering through fields and forests, conjuring stories about mythical Scottish creatures, ghosts, and monsters which roam the lowlands. One day, while deep in the woods, they come upon a real monster, an encounter that leaves them questioning whether the fabulous creatures of their stories are more than just figments of the imagination. As their bond deepens from their secret experience, Mary and Isabella’s feelings for each other intensify. But the girls do not know that someone has been watching them—the charismatic and vaguely sinister Mr. Booth, Isabella's older brother-in-law, another kind of monster who wears the face of a man. That memory inspires Mary’s tale—a story that will become one of the most original, thrilling, and influential works of literature ever written. In this beautiful blend of fact and fiction, wonderfully atmospheric and pulsing with emotion, Anne Eekhout brings the legendary writer to life with verve and great imagination. Translated from the Dutch by Laura Watkinson
320 pages, Hardcover
First published November 17, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 390 reviews
July 31, 2023
This story reimagines the young life of Mary Shelley at the time leading to the creation of her literary masterpiece, Frankenstein.
It alternates between two timelines set apart by four years.
1816: Mary, with others, visits Lord Byron at Lake Geneva. It’s a circle of writers and poets that spend the evenings exchanging ghost stories. One night, Byron suggests that each writes a ghost story. While Mary muses over her tale, it reminds her of another summer, when she was fourteen.
1814: Mary is sent by her family from London to Dundee, Scotland, where she stays at Baxter family. She quickly becomes friends with Isabella Baxter, the younger of two daughters. They spend hours together wandering through the nature and conjuring stories about mythical creatures.
Baxter family has tradition of story night every second Friday of the month. There is a regular visitor to those evenings. It’s Mr. Booth, who is Isabella’s brother-in-law. From the first encounter, Mary notices something strange about him. At first impression, he looks handsome, but as she looks longer at him, it’s like his face takes another form. One evening, Mr. Booth tells a story of demonstration he saw years earlier when a corpse was more or less brought to life by electrical stimuli.
I enjoyed the character of Mary more in the timeline when she is fourteen, still innocent and discovering the world around her. However, there are quite a few scenes insinuating a sapphic involvement between two young girls, which I don’t know if it’s based on some facts or is fiction. I didn’t find those moments as engrossing part of the story.
In the later timeline, Mary already feels old and sounds older than her age and is grieved by the loss of her child. I found this timeline more dramatic and didn’t connect as strongly as with the earlier timeline.
The first half of the story has a faster pace as there are interesting facts being revealed. In the second half, there seems to be some repetition. Thus, there is not much moving the story forward.
Overall, it is an interesting story and written by a talented writer.
Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
It alternates between two timelines set apart by four years.
1816: Mary, with others, visits Lord Byron at Lake Geneva. It’s a circle of writers and poets that spend the evenings exchanging ghost stories. One night, Byron suggests that each writes a ghost story. While Mary muses over her tale, it reminds her of another summer, when she was fourteen.
1814: Mary is sent by her family from London to Dundee, Scotland, where she stays at Baxter family. She quickly becomes friends with Isabella Baxter, the younger of two daughters. They spend hours together wandering through the nature and conjuring stories about mythical creatures.
Baxter family has tradition of story night every second Friday of the month. There is a regular visitor to those evenings. It’s Mr. Booth, who is Isabella’s brother-in-law. From the first encounter, Mary notices something strange about him. At first impression, he looks handsome, but as she looks longer at him, it’s like his face takes another form. One evening, Mr. Booth tells a story of demonstration he saw years earlier when a corpse was more or less brought to life by electrical stimuli.
I enjoyed the character of Mary more in the timeline when she is fourteen, still innocent and discovering the world around her. However, there are quite a few scenes insinuating a sapphic involvement between two young girls, which I don’t know if it’s based on some facts or is fiction. I didn’t find those moments as engrossing part of the story.
In the later timeline, Mary already feels old and sounds older than her age and is grieved by the loss of her child. I found this timeline more dramatic and didn’t connect as strongly as with the earlier timeline.
The first half of the story has a faster pace as there are interesting facts being revealed. In the second half, there seems to be some repetition. Thus, there is not much moving the story forward.
Overall, it is an interesting story and written by a talented writer.
Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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October 30, 2023Fans of Frankenstein and of Mary Shelley, rejoice! Dutch author Anne Eekhout has created a mystifying, dark, claustrophobic gothic novel that paints a vivid picture of Shelley’s teenage years in the lead-up to her first draft of Frankenstein, and all of it has been translated with depth and consideration by Laura Watkinson.
Mary and the Birth of Frankenstein is divided into two tales: the infamous summer of 1816 in which Shelley vacationed with her husband, child, stepsister, and the poet Lord Byron, and there they told scary stories around the fire; and a summer four years early spent in Dundee, Scotland.
My full thoughts: https://booksandbao.com/essential-got...
Mary and the Birth of Frankenstein is divided into two tales: the infamous summer of 1816 in which Shelley vacationed with her husband, child, stepsister, and the poet Lord Byron, and there they told scary stories around the fire; and a summer four years early spent in Dundee, Scotland.
My full thoughts: https://booksandbao.com/essential-got...
April 8, 2024
https://www.instagram.com/p/C29_m66Lv...
A dark, sensual imagining of the creation of one of horror’s most universal masterpieces. Filled with atmospheric gothic imagery and the growing sense of displacement, grief, this novel is a compelling interpretation of the life and desires of Mary Shelley, the constraints against which she fought to express herself through her work, to explain the horrors within and around her. Winding through a path of ambition, longing, otherness, envy, the parallels to Frankenstein are a welcome examination of the ways in which we are pushed to the brink for the pursuit of creation, and the ways in which our own creations reveal our inner selves. Beautifully written and illuminating a new depth to the mother of monsters.
A dark, sensual imagining of the creation of one of horror’s most universal masterpieces. Filled with atmospheric gothic imagery and the growing sense of displacement, grief, this novel is a compelling interpretation of the life and desires of Mary Shelley, the constraints against which she fought to express herself through her work, to explain the horrors within and around her. Winding through a path of ambition, longing, otherness, envy, the parallels to Frankenstein are a welcome examination of the ways in which we are pushed to the brink for the pursuit of creation, and the ways in which our own creations reveal our inner selves. Beautifully written and illuminating a new depth to the mother of monsters.
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January 4, 2022Wat een frustrerend boek. Prachtig geschreven hoor, en ik genoot van de diepe en haast filosofische passages. Maar wat een frustrerend boek.
December 28, 2023
Mary tells the story of a very young Mary Shelley in the years prior to her writing of Frankenstein.
The story flits between 1812, when Mary is 14 years old and spends time in Scotland with the Baxters. Here, she finds herself falling in love with Isabella Baxter and I found the telling of their relationship extremely touching. She also learns of witches and mythical beasts, and discovers that real monsters do exist, though not in the form of the stories we are told.
The other half of the story is set in 1816, when Mary lives on Lake Geneva with her lover, Percy. They have a somewhat fraught relationship due to his infidelities and the death of their daughter. This period of the story is filled with friends who are writers and poets, including the inimitable Lord Byron. One evening, as storms rage and they are under the effects of alcohol and laudunum, Lord Byron challenges them to tell a ghost story. Immediately, it becomes clear that Mary has a mind for storytelling of a grotesque but captivating nature.
If I didn't already know that Mary was a translation from Dutch, I never would have guessed. Anne Eekhout's writing reads like an English classic and I fell heart first into the life of Mary. Anne's passion for her subject shines through on every page. It is both deeply emotional and vividly atmospheric of all of Mary's varied surroundings.
I will add one caveat that I have never read Frankenstein (yes, I know!) and know very little of Mary Shelley's life, but I found Mary to be just so deeply captivating of a young woman's life. A woman trying to find her way in a world where she is surrounded by men, as so very often was the case in the 19th century. Perhaps this goes some way towards explaining why Mary became so quickly captivated by Isabella Baxter.
Of course, no book review would be complete without giving praise to the translator, Laura Watkinson. Thank you to Puskin Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. And I honestly loved it!
The story flits between 1812, when Mary is 14 years old and spends time in Scotland with the Baxters. Here, she finds herself falling in love with Isabella Baxter and I found the telling of their relationship extremely touching. She also learns of witches and mythical beasts, and discovers that real monsters do exist, though not in the form of the stories we are told.
The other half of the story is set in 1816, when Mary lives on Lake Geneva with her lover, Percy. They have a somewhat fraught relationship due to his infidelities and the death of their daughter. This period of the story is filled with friends who are writers and poets, including the inimitable Lord Byron. One evening, as storms rage and they are under the effects of alcohol and laudunum, Lord Byron challenges them to tell a ghost story. Immediately, it becomes clear that Mary has a mind for storytelling of a grotesque but captivating nature.
If I didn't already know that Mary was a translation from Dutch, I never would have guessed. Anne Eekhout's writing reads like an English classic and I fell heart first into the life of Mary. Anne's passion for her subject shines through on every page. It is both deeply emotional and vividly atmospheric of all of Mary's varied surroundings.
I will add one caveat that I have never read Frankenstein (yes, I know!) and know very little of Mary Shelley's life, but I found Mary to be just so deeply captivating of a young woman's life. A woman trying to find her way in a world where she is surrounded by men, as so very often was the case in the 19th century. Perhaps this goes some way towards explaining why Mary became so quickly captivated by Isabella Baxter.
Of course, no book review would be complete without giving praise to the translator, Laura Watkinson. Thank you to Puskin Press for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. And I honestly loved it!
October 26, 2023
Frankenstein is a title I have long adored, even more so after a course studying it at university. None of my studies ever allowed me insights to and an understanding of the author's life quite like this fictional reimaging did, however.
The timeline was ever shifting throughout but the cuts from scene-to-scene felt very fitting with the emotional nature of the text, both here and in Mary's own writing. These sudden movements to, and removals from, certain scenes allowed the reader an easy insight into how they factored in to other later or earlier sufferings in the author's life. And, then, how all these were reawakened in her gothic writing.
The writing here was mesmerising in its beauty. Each sentence was crisply executed and no emotion was spared the reader as Mary's life was fictionalised for our entertainment. It made me bond all the more with this historical figure and provided a greater appreciation for her creations.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Anne Eekhout, and the publisher, Pushkin Press, for this opportunity.
The timeline was ever shifting throughout but the cuts from scene-to-scene felt very fitting with the emotional nature of the text, both here and in Mary's own writing. These sudden movements to, and removals from, certain scenes allowed the reader an easy insight into how they factored in to other later or earlier sufferings in the author's life. And, then, how all these were reawakened in her gothic writing.
The writing here was mesmerising in its beauty. Each sentence was crisply executed and no emotion was spared the reader as Mary's life was fictionalised for our entertainment. It made me bond all the more with this historical figure and provided a greater appreciation for her creations.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Anne Eekhout, and the publisher, Pushkin Press, for this opportunity.
November 9, 2023
the trifecta of gorgeous prose, unreliable narration and obsessive sapphic romance 💯
January 17, 2024
3-4 star rating (???)
i am one to police others’ writings, but this book truly felt like a violation against mary shelley’s life. if it had not been about her — if it had not claimed to be about her — this would fall far easier under a four star rating. but it does, unfortunately, try to be a reimagining of two moments in shelley’s life, and it made me deeply uncomfortable.
to imagine up a scenario where a 14/15 year old shelley is in love with a girl, where she imagines them having sex (even when i was 15 i did not want to read about 15 year olds having sex, and as an adult i am only more disgusted by it), where she imagines herself being vaguely sexually assaulted in a way that is unclear if it actually happened or not (a scene which is never again brought up despite her and her friend jerking off a very prominent character to the plot), all of it feels violating. im not a mary shelley expert, nor am i a historian, but whether or not anything that happened in this book is actually true (i sincerely believe the narrative following her as a 14 year old is pure fiction), i still find it incredibly off-putting to write about it. does that make sense? shelley is not a fictional character. she is a real woman whose childhood is being written about in an extremely odd way.
speaking of, shelley might as well have been a fictional character! this isn’t shelley at all! mary was, for a lack of better words, a freak. she was unapologetically fucking weird, and that’s fine! that’s a genuinely interesting personality type for a character! the mary in this book is sad and pensive and depressive and a copy paste of every single literary fiction female protagonist in the last 10 years. i am so fucking sick of reading books about sad women who hate their lives and who are surrounded by awful men. i do not want to read another novel where the author projects all of her fears and emotions onto a historical woman. shelley is a weird little freak who should be written about as a weird little freak. i am not at all interested in her being a sad tumblr girl.
anyway, i am very confused on this book. i genuinely enjoyed this despite the fact that i absolutely hate the sad girl trope it portrays. it was morbidly interesting and i couldn’t put it down at all. it’s a good book! it was also frustrating and uncomfortable and sometimes that’s just how it is. i don’t know how to rate this, which is why i’ve given it a vague 3 stars.
i am one to police others’ writings, but this book truly felt like a violation against mary shelley’s life. if it had not been about her — if it had not claimed to be about her — this would fall far easier under a four star rating. but it does, unfortunately, try to be a reimagining of two moments in shelley’s life, and it made me deeply uncomfortable.
to imagine up a scenario where a 14/15 year old shelley is in love with a girl, where she imagines them having sex (even when i was 15 i did not want to read about 15 year olds having sex, and as an adult i am only more disgusted by it), where she imagines herself being vaguely sexually assaulted in a way that is unclear if it actually happened or not (a scene which is never again brought up despite her and her friend jerking off a very prominent character to the plot), all of it feels violating. im not a mary shelley expert, nor am i a historian, but whether or not anything that happened in this book is actually true (i sincerely believe the narrative following her as a 14 year old is pure fiction), i still find it incredibly off-putting to write about it. does that make sense? shelley is not a fictional character. she is a real woman whose childhood is being written about in an extremely odd way.
speaking of, shelley might as well have been a fictional character! this isn’t shelley at all! mary was, for a lack of better words, a freak. she was unapologetically fucking weird, and that’s fine! that’s a genuinely interesting personality type for a character! the mary in this book is sad and pensive and depressive and a copy paste of every single literary fiction female protagonist in the last 10 years. i am so fucking sick of reading books about sad women who hate their lives and who are surrounded by awful men. i do not want to read another novel where the author projects all of her fears and emotions onto a historical woman. shelley is a weird little freak who should be written about as a weird little freak. i am not at all interested in her being a sad tumblr girl.
anyway, i am very confused on this book. i genuinely enjoyed this despite the fact that i absolutely hate the sad girl trope it portrays. it was morbidly interesting and i couldn’t put it down at all. it’s a good book! it was also frustrating and uncomfortable and sometimes that’s just how it is. i don’t know how to rate this, which is why i’ve given it a vague 3 stars.
November 17, 2023
On my blog.
Rep: sapphic mc
Galley provided by publisher
Mary was, in all honesty, a pretty unmemorable book for me. I don’t often get on with books about real people, so I really should have seen this one coming. It wasn’t embarrassing in the way I sometimes find books like that (The Rose Code springs to mind), but neither was it that compelling.
The story splits between the “present” day, where Mary Shelley is on the verge of writing the first drafts of Frankenstein and the past when she was a ward of the Baxters before her marriage with Percy Bysshe Shelley, during which time she falls for their daughter. There’s more that happens too but I kind of only have a vague recollection of it. A creepy brother in law? Maybe? But anyway.
This is what I mean by it’s sort of an unmemorable book. Even with characters such as both Shelleys and Lord Tennyson, it didn’t stick out for me. Again, perhaps this is something I could have seen coming since I’m not that interested in reading about that particular period of history, let alone individuals within it. So most of what I struggled with about this book can probably simply be put down to being the wrong reader for it.
Honestly, it was such a strongly-only-okay read that I don’t really have anything more to say about it. While I can’t say there was anything I truly disliked about it, neither was there anything I can point to as having liked. It was an okay reading experience. It didn’t excite me but it didn’t piss me off immeasurably. Just. Okay.
However, as ever, everyone’s a different reader! What I didn’t love here might be right up another person’s alley so, if this book appeals to you, give it a go.
Rep: sapphic mc
Galley provided by publisher
Mary was, in all honesty, a pretty unmemorable book for me. I don’t often get on with books about real people, so I really should have seen this one coming. It wasn’t embarrassing in the way I sometimes find books like that (The Rose Code springs to mind), but neither was it that compelling.
The story splits between the “present” day, where Mary Shelley is on the verge of writing the first drafts of Frankenstein and the past when she was a ward of the Baxters before her marriage with Percy Bysshe Shelley, during which time she falls for their daughter. There’s more that happens too but I kind of only have a vague recollection of it. A creepy brother in law? Maybe? But anyway.
This is what I mean by it’s sort of an unmemorable book. Even with characters such as both Shelleys and Lord Tennyson, it didn’t stick out for me. Again, perhaps this is something I could have seen coming since I’m not that interested in reading about that particular period of history, let alone individuals within it. So most of what I struggled with about this book can probably simply be put down to being the wrong reader for it.
Honestly, it was such a strongly-only-okay read that I don’t really have anything more to say about it. While I can’t say there was anything I truly disliked about it, neither was there anything I can point to as having liked. It was an okay reading experience. It didn’t excite me but it didn’t piss me off immeasurably. Just. Okay.
However, as ever, everyone’s a different reader! What I didn’t love here might be right up another person’s alley so, if this book appeals to you, give it a go.
December 10, 2022
Mary Shelley gehört für mich zu den interessantesten Autorinnen der Literaturgeschichte. Sie war eine unglaublich begabte Schriftstellerin, die die Welt der Literatur für immer verändert hat und das, als sie jünger war als ich gerade. Ich freue mich immer, wenn ich mehr über sie lernen kann. Deswegen habe ich mich auch gefreut, als ich in der Verlagsvorschau gesehen habe, dass dieses Jahr eine neue Romanbiographie über sie erscheint. Klar, Romanbiographien halten sich nicht zu hundert Prozent an die historischen Begebenheiten, aber sie sind dafür oft einfacher zugänglich als Biografien und oft auch einfach unterhaltsamer. Deswegen habe auch ich mich dazu entschieden, diesem Buch eine Chance zu geben.
Zuerst möchte ich den poetischen Schreibstil loben, der mir sehr zugesagt hat. Die Autorin und die Übersetzerin oder der Übersetzer haben hier wirklich gute Arbeit geleistet und konnten mich fesseln. Diese Lektüre war definitiv nicht einfach, trotzdem habe ich mich mit diesem Buch durchaus wohlgefühlt.
Interessant fand ich auch, dass hier der Fokus auf der Kindheit von Mary Shelley liegt. Den größten Teil dieses Buchs ist sie nur so um die 15 Jahre alt. Damals wurde sie aus gesundheitlichen Gründen zu einer Familie nach Schottland geschickt und lebte bei der Familie Baxter, die in der Realität aber wohl sehr anders war als hier dargestellt. So wurde die Familie in diesem Roman stark verkleinert - in der Realität hatte Baxter nämlich meines Wissens nach vier Töchter, hier sind es nur zwei. Allerdings weiß ich nicht besonders viel über Mary Shelleys Kindheit und kann so auch vieles, das hier in diesem Buch beschrieben wird, weder bestätigen noch bestreiten.
Interessant fand ich den Fokus auf Marys Kindheit vor allem auch wegen des Klappentexts, der meiner Meinung nach falsche Erwartungen weckt. Der Fokus liegt da doch auf diesem einen unglaublich wichtigen Sommer in Mary Shelleys Leben, in dem sie "Frankenstein" schrieb. Diese Episode aus ihrer Biografie kennen wohl die meisten Menschen und deswegen wurde hier wohl auch damit geworben. Dieses Buch handelt aber nur in einigen wenigen Kapiteln von Marys Erwachsenenleben und in diesen steht das Schreiben nicht im Vordergrund. Wichtiger ist in diesen Abschnitten die Beziehung zwischen Mary und Percy Shelley, Mary und Claire und Mary und den anderen anwesenden Männern. Auch die Trauer um ihre verstorbene Tochter und die Sorge um ihren Sohn spielen eine große Rolle in diesem Text. All diese hier genannten Aspekte wurden auch eine Art eingeführt, bei der ich mir nicht sicher bin, ob ich die Handlung noch verstanden hätte, wenn ich nicht mein Hintergrundwissen über Mary Shelley hätte. Die Entstehung von "Frankenstein" war wiederum nicht ganz so wichtig, was ich persönlich doch eher schwach finde. Mary Shelley ist eine der größten Autorinnen, die meiner Meinung nach je existiert haben, also warum spielt das Schreiben hier nur so eine untergeordnete Rolle? Ich kann deswegen auch nicht ganz nachvollziehen, warum man sich dazu entschieden hat, trotzdem auf diese Art für diesen biografischen Roman zu werben.
Mein Fazit? Ich habe leider etwas ganz anderes erwartet und bin mit diesem Buch deswegen leider nicht ganz zufrieden.
Zuerst möchte ich den poetischen Schreibstil loben, der mir sehr zugesagt hat. Die Autorin und die Übersetzerin oder der Übersetzer haben hier wirklich gute Arbeit geleistet und konnten mich fesseln. Diese Lektüre war definitiv nicht einfach, trotzdem habe ich mich mit diesem Buch durchaus wohlgefühlt.
Interessant fand ich auch, dass hier der Fokus auf der Kindheit von Mary Shelley liegt. Den größten Teil dieses Buchs ist sie nur so um die 15 Jahre alt. Damals wurde sie aus gesundheitlichen Gründen zu einer Familie nach Schottland geschickt und lebte bei der Familie Baxter, die in der Realität aber wohl sehr anders war als hier dargestellt. So wurde die Familie in diesem Roman stark verkleinert - in der Realität hatte Baxter nämlich meines Wissens nach vier Töchter, hier sind es nur zwei. Allerdings weiß ich nicht besonders viel über Mary Shelleys Kindheit und kann so auch vieles, das hier in diesem Buch beschrieben wird, weder bestätigen noch bestreiten.
Interessant fand ich den Fokus auf Marys Kindheit vor allem auch wegen des Klappentexts, der meiner Meinung nach falsche Erwartungen weckt. Der Fokus liegt da doch auf diesem einen unglaublich wichtigen Sommer in Mary Shelleys Leben, in dem sie "Frankenstein" schrieb. Diese Episode aus ihrer Biografie kennen wohl die meisten Menschen und deswegen wurde hier wohl auch damit geworben. Dieses Buch handelt aber nur in einigen wenigen Kapiteln von Marys Erwachsenenleben und in diesen steht das Schreiben nicht im Vordergrund. Wichtiger ist in diesen Abschnitten die Beziehung zwischen Mary und Percy Shelley, Mary und Claire und Mary und den anderen anwesenden Männern. Auch die Trauer um ihre verstorbene Tochter und die Sorge um ihren Sohn spielen eine große Rolle in diesem Text. All diese hier genannten Aspekte wurden auch eine Art eingeführt, bei der ich mir nicht sicher bin, ob ich die Handlung noch verstanden hätte, wenn ich nicht mein Hintergrundwissen über Mary Shelley hätte. Die Entstehung von "Frankenstein" war wiederum nicht ganz so wichtig, was ich persönlich doch eher schwach finde. Mary Shelley ist eine der größten Autorinnen, die meiner Meinung nach je existiert haben, also warum spielt das Schreiben hier nur so eine untergeordnete Rolle? Ich kann deswegen auch nicht ganz nachvollziehen, warum man sich dazu entschieden hat, trotzdem auf diese Art für diesen biografischen Roman zu werben.
Mein Fazit? Ich habe leider etwas ganz anderes erwartet und bin mit diesem Buch deswegen leider nicht ganz zufrieden.
December 5, 2021
Van de gezellige mensen bij De Bezige Bij kreeg ik Mary van Anne Eekhout. Ik heb nog geen eerdere biografieën van Mary Shelley gelezen, alleen haar wikipediapagina, dus voor mij was nog niet alles bekend. Ik begreep dat veel van wat verteld wordt al eerder besproken is in het boek 'In search of Mary Shelley' van Fiona Sampson, maar dat heb ik dus niet gelezen. Ook 'Frankissstein' van Jeanette Winterson heb ik nog niet onder ogen gehad. Voor mijn collega was dit wat minder originele onderwerp een minpunt, mij kon het niet zoveel schelen.
Het boek is, neergezet als een nieuwe gothic novel, right on the nose qua sfeer.
Het eindeloze gebruik van opium en alcohol, de dromen en fantasieën die vervloeken met de werkelijkheid, zodat waarheid en waanzin niet meer van elkaar te onderscheiden zijn, het is goed neergezet. Eekhout versterkt dit door te wisselen van verteller: Mary's herinneringen in Schotland worden vanuit de eerste persoon verteld om de onbetrouwbaarheid van de verteller te benadrukken, waardoor je gewoon eigenlijk niet weet wat er nu precies gebeurt, daar in dat noorden van Engeland.
Het deel van het verhaal dat zich in Genève afspeelt, de eindeloze regenachtige zomer waarin Frankenstein gestalte kreeg, wordt vanuit de derde persoon verteld.
Het boek is daarom ook echt een roman, en zeker geen biografie, en zo moet het ook echt niet gelezen worden.
Het enige dat Eekhout nog even moet leren is dat borstvoeding geven geen pijn doet (tenzij er gebeten wordt) en dat je geen eelt op je tepels kunt krijgen. Nee, echt niet, aldus zij die zeven jaar non stop borstvoeding heeft gegeven.
Vier sterren, want uiteindelijk ben ik gewoon een liefhebber van goede historische romans. Lekkere tip om met een dekentje mee onder de kerstboom te kruipen. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Het boek is, neergezet als een nieuwe gothic novel, right on the nose qua sfeer.
Het eindeloze gebruik van opium en alcohol, de dromen en fantasieën die vervloeken met de werkelijkheid, zodat waarheid en waanzin niet meer van elkaar te onderscheiden zijn, het is goed neergezet. Eekhout versterkt dit door te wisselen van verteller: Mary's herinneringen in Schotland worden vanuit de eerste persoon verteld om de onbetrouwbaarheid van de verteller te benadrukken, waardoor je gewoon eigenlijk niet weet wat er nu precies gebeurt, daar in dat noorden van Engeland.
Het deel van het verhaal dat zich in Genève afspeelt, de eindeloze regenachtige zomer waarin Frankenstein gestalte kreeg, wordt vanuit de derde persoon verteld.
Het boek is daarom ook echt een roman, en zeker geen biografie, en zo moet het ook echt niet gelezen worden.
Het enige dat Eekhout nog even moet leren is dat borstvoeding geven geen pijn doet (tenzij er gebeten wordt) en dat je geen eelt op je tepels kunt krijgen. Nee, echt niet, aldus zij die zeven jaar non stop borstvoeding heeft gegeven.
Vier sterren, want uiteindelijk ben ik gewoon een liefhebber van goede historische romans. Lekkere tip om met een dekentje mee onder de kerstboom te kruipen. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
December 24, 2023
all day every day: F**** PERCY SHELLEY!!!!! the practice of free love historically benefits men and harms women (also @-ing beauvoir and sartre here). shelley was a dumpster fire and mary deserved better.
during senior year of hs, i was first intro’d to mary thru frankenstein and i felt so much kinship w her! i was convinced we were connected and maybe i was her in a past life. after reading this, i am still convinced i am mary reincarnated <3333
onto the lit crit:
the 3rd person perspective was def inspired by mary shelley’s own diaries, but i still struggled w the back-and-forth between first and 3rd. lovedddd that it was also a book in translation (from the dutch)
really lovely bits of language
loved the recurring motifs of motherhood/breast-feeding/writing and children as connected entities that evoke similar emotions
the typeface is the same typeface used for the first pub of frankenstein! tres cool
couldn’t tell if the monster stuff was overdone, but love the incorporation of scottish mythology
the octopus line w isabella in the pond made me wretch uncontrollably. yuck, not a fan
rich use of gothic influence; witchcraft, “a man is not as he seems”, sapphic undertones etc
during senior year of hs, i was first intro’d to mary thru frankenstein and i felt so much kinship w her! i was convinced we were connected and maybe i was her in a past life. after reading this, i am still convinced i am mary reincarnated <3333
onto the lit crit:
the 3rd person perspective was def inspired by mary shelley’s own diaries, but i still struggled w the back-and-forth between first and 3rd. lovedddd that it was also a book in translation (from the dutch)
really lovely bits of language
loved the recurring motifs of motherhood/breast-feeding/writing and children as connected entities that evoke similar emotions
the typeface is the same typeface used for the first pub of frankenstein! tres cool
couldn’t tell if the monster stuff was overdone, but love the incorporation of scottish mythology
the octopus line w isabella in the pond made me wretch uncontrollably. yuck, not a fan
rich use of gothic influence; witchcraft, “a man is not as he seems”, sapphic undertones etc
January 18, 2022
This is a Dutch book about the life of Mary Shelley, the author of 'Frankenstein'. It alternates between her teenage years and her years as a young adult and a mum. It's interesting to see where the idea for 'Frankenstein' has originated. It also became clear that she had a lot of fantasy, was sensitive and attracted to women or at least Isabella. Her years as a teenager she spend it with a family where her father was friends with and it seems that there she developed her love for writing, for fantasy. The other part is set in Genéva, where she is travelling with Percy Shelley and lord Byron, amongst a few other friends. From what the story is telling, Mary struggled with life and writing, with the 'place' of a woman in this period of time.
As I finished the book, it was clear that the author did a lot of research about Marry Shelley, but still managed to create an interesting story about her young life.
As I finished the book, it was clear that the author did a lot of research about Marry Shelley, but still managed to create an interesting story about her young life.
November 10, 2022
3 stelle
Un mix tra fantasy e romanzo onirico, nel quale l'autrice romanza, eccessivamente, la vita di Mary Shelley.
Due piani temporali per raccontare una Mary Shelley che, quasi sicuramente, esiste solo nella mente di Eekhout.
Personaggi secondari assolutamente in secondo piano.
Buona la scrittura, ma la storia risulta comunque lenta e difficile da leggere.
La recensione completa nel blog
Un mix tra fantasy e romanzo onirico, nel quale l'autrice romanza, eccessivamente, la vita di Mary Shelley.
Due piani temporali per raccontare una Mary Shelley che, quasi sicuramente, esiste solo nella mente di Eekhout.
Personaggi secondari assolutamente in secondo piano.
Buona la scrittura, ma la storia risulta comunque lenta e difficile da leggere.
La recensione completa nel blog
December 10, 2021
Fijn om een paar dagen in Schotland te zijn, tussen de watermonsters en de (vermeende) heksen.
Ik vond het verhaal af en toe ietwat langdradig worden, daarom 3 en geen 4 sterren.
Ik vond het verhaal af en toe ietwat langdradig worden, daarom 3 en geen 4 sterren.
January 19, 2022
Mary van Anne Eekhout neemt de lezer mee naar het jaar 1816 in het Zwitserse Cologny bij het Meer van Genève. In Maison Chapuis, vlakbij Villa Diodati, ligt de achttienjarige Mary Shelley iedere nacht wakker. Op dit ‘heksenuur’, wanneer haar verbeelding het sterkst is, wordt Mary herinnerd aan twee grote verliezen. Zo stierf haar moeder, de feministe Mary Wollstonecraft, tijdens haar kraambed en haar dochter aan wiegendood. Samen met haar geliefde Percy Bysshe Shelley, hun zoon William en stiefzus Claire, brengt Mary de zomer door met dichter Lord Byron (‘Albe’) en arts John Polidori. De zomermaanden zijn dat jaar echter verrassend regenachtig, en tijdens een onstuimige avond besluiten de mannen een griezelige verhalenwedstrijd te organiseren. Mary doet ook mee en schrijft het begin van wat later het beroemde horrorverhaal Frankenstein (Or The Modern Prometheus) zal worden.
Wil je mijn volledige recensie lezen? Ga dan naar elineschrijfthier.nl. ↖️🙋🏻♀️
Wil je mijn volledige recensie lezen? Ga dan naar elineschrijfthier.nl. ↖️🙋🏻♀️
March 26, 2024
3.5⭐️
anne eekhout vertelt het verhaal van mary shelley (auteur van frankenstein) op een interessante en originele manier. we volgen mary in twee tijdlijnen. als eerste in 1816, wanneer zij 18 jaar oud is in cologny, zwitserland. en daarna in 1812, wanneer zij 14 jaar oud is in dundee, schotland. beide tijdlijnen zijn ook op een andere manier geschreven. dat was aan het begin even wennen.
het is een gotische roman met horror/fantasy invloeden en het voelde op sommige momenten een beetje aan als een soort fever dream. dit komt denk ik omdat je leest vanuit het perspectief van mary shelley als kind/jonge vrouw die al veel heeft meegemaakt.
ook vind ik de cover echt heel erg mooi!
anne eekhout vertelt het verhaal van mary shelley (auteur van frankenstein) op een interessante en originele manier. we volgen mary in twee tijdlijnen. als eerste in 1816, wanneer zij 18 jaar oud is in cologny, zwitserland. en daarna in 1812, wanneer zij 14 jaar oud is in dundee, schotland. beide tijdlijnen zijn ook op een andere manier geschreven. dat was aan het begin even wennen.
het is een gotische roman met horror/fantasy invloeden en het voelde op sommige momenten een beetje aan als een soort fever dream. dit komt denk ik omdat je leest vanuit het perspectief van mary shelley als kind/jonge vrouw die al veel heeft meegemaakt.
ook vind ik de cover echt heel erg mooi!
February 11, 2024
1816. Mary, eighteen years old, is staying in a villa on Lake Geneva with her lover Percy Shelley. She is tormented by his infidelities; haunted by the loss of her baby daughter.
Then one evening with friends, as storms rage outside and laudanum stirs their imaginations, Lord Byron challenges everyone to write a ghost story, and something fierce and wild awakens in Mary.
Memories surface of the long, strange summer she once spent with a family in Scotland, where she found herself falling in love with the enigmatic Isabella Baxter. She learned tales of mythical beasts, witches and spirits. And she encountered real monsters - both in the rocky wilds, and far, far closer to home...
Illuminating the past like a flash of lightning, this brilliant reimagining of the birth of Frankenstein takes us into a feverish world of waking dreams-where grief mingles with desire, and the veil between beauty and horror grows thin.
I was fascinated with the idea of this book, I have long held a special love for Frankenstein and often wondered what the inspiration was for Mary Shelley. A visit to Scotland with all its superstitions certainly gave the character of Mary Shelley plenty of strange experiences to draw on - some of which were disturbingly graphic.
Mary's relationship with lover Percy Shelley is complicated, she is tormented by his infidelities and haunted by the loss of her baby daughter. Her friendship with Isabella Baxter is equally complex and weighed down by a sad backstory for both girls along with a number of dark (mainly) male influences in their lives at this time.
I do like a dual timeline but I must admit, that I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t. I think that was the author’s purpose, but I still would have liked to know for sure.
Filled with vivid imagery; the raging storms, cold, chilly nights spent by the candlelight, strange dreams, and perilous journeys. It was a slow, atmospheric, gothic tale very much a character driven novel that had a tendency towards the supernatural elements.
I wanted to love it but it didn't quite get there for me if I'm honest.
I was fascinated with the idea of this book - what inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein. A visit to Scotland with all its superstitions certainly gave this character plenty of strange experiences to draw on - some of which were disturbingly graphic. Mary's friendship with Isabella is complicated, and weighed down by a sad backstory for both girls along with a number of dark (mainly) male influences in their lives at this time. I do like a dual timeline but I must admit, that I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t. I think that was the author’s purpose, but I still would have liked to know for sure.
Filled with vivid imagery; the raging storms, cold, chilly nights spent by the candlelight, strange dreams, and perilous journeys. It was slow, atmospheric and gothic, very much a character driven novel that tends to delve into supernatural elements and how troubled Mary's experiences give birth to Frankenstein.
I wanted to love it but it didn't quite get there for me if I'm honest.
Then one evening with friends, as storms rage outside and laudanum stirs their imaginations, Lord Byron challenges everyone to write a ghost story, and something fierce and wild awakens in Mary.
Memories surface of the long, strange summer she once spent with a family in Scotland, where she found herself falling in love with the enigmatic Isabella Baxter. She learned tales of mythical beasts, witches and spirits. And she encountered real monsters - both in the rocky wilds, and far, far closer to home...
Illuminating the past like a flash of lightning, this brilliant reimagining of the birth of Frankenstein takes us into a feverish world of waking dreams-where grief mingles with desire, and the veil between beauty and horror grows thin.
I was fascinated with the idea of this book, I have long held a special love for Frankenstein and often wondered what the inspiration was for Mary Shelley. A visit to Scotland with all its superstitions certainly gave the character of Mary Shelley plenty of strange experiences to draw on - some of which were disturbingly graphic.
Mary's relationship with lover Percy Shelley is complicated, she is tormented by his infidelities and haunted by the loss of her baby daughter. Her friendship with Isabella Baxter is equally complex and weighed down by a sad backstory for both girls along with a number of dark (mainly) male influences in their lives at this time.
I do like a dual timeline but I must admit, that I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t. I think that was the author’s purpose, but I still would have liked to know for sure.
Filled with vivid imagery; the raging storms, cold, chilly nights spent by the candlelight, strange dreams, and perilous journeys. It was a slow, atmospheric, gothic tale very much a character driven novel that had a tendency towards the supernatural elements.
I wanted to love it but it didn't quite get there for me if I'm honest.
I was fascinated with the idea of this book - what inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein. A visit to Scotland with all its superstitions certainly gave this character plenty of strange experiences to draw on - some of which were disturbingly graphic. Mary's friendship with Isabella is complicated, and weighed down by a sad backstory for both girls along with a number of dark (mainly) male influences in their lives at this time. I do like a dual timeline but I must admit, that I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t. I think that was the author’s purpose, but I still would have liked to know for sure.
Filled with vivid imagery; the raging storms, cold, chilly nights spent by the candlelight, strange dreams, and perilous journeys. It was slow, atmospheric and gothic, very much a character driven novel that tends to delve into supernatural elements and how troubled Mary's experiences give birth to Frankenstein.
I wanted to love it but it didn't quite get there for me if I'm honest.
December 27, 2023
Review to come.
December 18, 2021
3,5 sterren. Vooral de vibes van dit boek waren echt heel erg mooi neergezet.
February 12, 2023
Prachtig, echt prachtig! Dit boek is fantastisch geschreven en zoveel tegelijk. Er is zoveel aandacht en liefde besteed aan Mary en wie ze mogelijk geweest had kunnen zijn. Wat ze dacht, wat ze voelde, wie ze was en waarom. Je leest over haar als ze een paar jaar moeder is en met haar man en vriendengroep reist naar Zwitserland om daar uiteindelijk Frankenstein te schrijven. Waar de onderlinge ingewikkelde relaties tussen de vrienden zorgen voor verdriet en woede, maar ook inspiratie. Wat er ondanks de vooruitstrevende ideeën van deze mensen toch verwacht werd van een vrouw. Hoe dat conflicteerde met elkaar en hoe moeilijk dat was. Je leest ook over een paar jaar ervoor als ze te gast is bij een familie waar ze een innige vriendschap aangaat met de dochter van die familie. Wat voor bizarre dingen ze meemaakt en je je afvraagt wat echt is en wat fantasie. Je leest alles vanuit Mary’s ogen en ze begon zo te leven voor mij dat ik haar niet meer zal vergeten.
January 20, 2024
This was a torture to read.
What on earth was this about? A monster? Shelley's fantasy? Her way of coping with her unfaithful husband? I couldn't care less for this book. The writing style was as if the author wanted to make this story 'artistic' and in-depth, but it was just miserable to read imo - it left me with a 'wtf-am-I-reading' frown as soon as I read the first page.
Also, what's up with the explicit and weird s*xual scenes? I felt as if I was force fed this narrative that Mary Shelley was bisexual. And even if she was; it didn't contribute anything to the story!
I'm aware that I'm rather harsh for this book. I've noticed that many like it (which is great), but words cannot describe how much I dislike it, personally.
I wasn't invested in it at all, so I was glad when I finally finished it. I believe these things, as well as the fact that the border between fantasy and reality were obscured, hindered me in appreciating this book for what it is.
What on earth was this about? A monster? Shelley's fantasy? Her way of coping with her unfaithful husband? I couldn't care less for this book. The writing style was as if the author wanted to make this story 'artistic' and in-depth, but it was just miserable to read imo - it left me with a 'wtf-am-I-reading' frown as soon as I read the first page.
Also, what's up with the explicit and weird s*xual scenes? I felt as if I was force fed this narrative that Mary Shelley was bisexual. And even if she was; it didn't contribute anything to the story!
I'm aware that I'm rather harsh for this book. I've noticed that many like it (which is great), but words cannot describe how much I dislike it, personally.
I wasn't invested in it at all, so I was glad when I finally finished it. I believe these things, as well as the fact that the border between fantasy and reality were obscured, hindered me in appreciating this book for what it is.
February 17, 2022
Als ik niet het gros van de tijd zo godvergeten moe en afgeleid was had ik dit boek stukken eerder uit gehad. Ik vond het, ook al las ik te gefragmenteerd en warrig, magisch. Zo goed, qua verhaal maar vooral qua taal. Erg fan! Kan dit verfilmd worden?
November 1, 2023
The title is a liebit of a stretch
July 9, 2024
Mi aspettavo qualcosa di diverso. Sono sempre stata affascinata dalla genesi di Frankenstein e dai fatti di Villa Diodati, e probabilmente Eekhout è riuscita a ricostruire l'atmosfera che si viveva a Ginevra in quell'anno senza estate. Ma il romanzo è troppo onirico, allucinato quasi, incentrato tutto sulle due esperienze che forse segnarono maggiormente Mary Godwin Shelley e che si alternano in queste pagine: quella del 1816 a Ginevra, appunto, quando aveva appena diciannove anni (ma aveva già partorito due figli, di cui la prima, Clara, era morta in fasce), con la sfida a scrivere un racconto dell'orrore lanciata da Byron, che solo lei e John Polidori portarono a compimento; e quella avvenuta quattro anni prima a Dundee, in Scozia, quando, da quindicenne molto influenzabile, strinse amicizia con Isabelle Baxter e frequentò il suo ambiguo e ammaliante cognato, Mr. Booth, vivendo interi pomeriggi i cui ricordi saranno spesso confusi e a volte pressoché sognanti, quasi irreali.
Il "libro" è solo un fatto futuro, Mary lo scrive, sottraendo del tempo prezioso a William, il figlioletto, malgrado le rimostranze del marito. I riferimenti a Frankenstein sono nei racconti di streghe che Mary ascolta in Scozia, nelle sue esperienze di ragazza ipersensibile e suggestionabile, nel dolore per la morte della figlia e nel suo rapporto con Percy Shelley e con la sorellastra Claire Clairmont - una ragazza tutt'altro che semplice - inseguendo l'utopia dell'amore libero, che per Mary è invece inattuabile.
Il "libro" è solo un fatto futuro, Mary lo scrive, sottraendo del tempo prezioso a William, il figlioletto, malgrado le rimostranze del marito. I riferimenti a Frankenstein sono nei racconti di streghe che Mary ascolta in Scozia, nelle sue esperienze di ragazza ipersensibile e suggestionabile, nel dolore per la morte della figlia e nel suo rapporto con Percy Shelley e con la sorellastra Claire Clairmont - una ragazza tutt'altro che semplice - inseguendo l'utopia dell'amore libero, che per Mary è invece inattuabile.
April 12, 2024
Eindelijk dit boek uitgelezen, hij stond zo lang op mijn TBR! Bijzonder verhaal, waarbij je continu de vraag hebt: is dit werkelijkheid? Of is het fantasie.
July 4, 2022
Boekenclubboek 3.
Goed boek met mooie symboliek en historische achtergrond. Wat is fantasie? Kinderlijkheid? Zijn dingen alleen griezelig of het allergriezeligst als ze echt kunnen gebeuren? En is het leven Mary Shelley dan niet sowieso griezelig? Anne Eekhout gooit met dit boek een verslavend rookgordijn op, kan je jezelf als lezer nog vertrouwen?
Goed boek met mooie symboliek en historische achtergrond. Wat is fantasie? Kinderlijkheid? Zijn dingen alleen griezelig of het allergriezeligst als ze echt kunnen gebeuren? En is het leven Mary Shelley dan niet sowieso griezelig? Anne Eekhout gooit met dit boek een verslavend rookgordijn op, kan je jezelf als lezer nog vertrouwen?
April 15, 2023
Ich breche ja keine Bücher ab, denn auch wenn mir ein Roman anfangs nicht gefällt, habe ich doch immer noch die Hoffnung, dass er sich "berappelt" und diese Chance möchte ich einer Geschichte auch immer einräumen. Meistens, das gebe ich zu, werde ich dann doch enttäuscht und wenn ein Buch mich am Anfang nicht packt, schafft es das auch im Verlauf nicht.
ABER: Hier hat sich das Dranbleiben gelohnt. Bis zum Schluss konnte mich die Geschichte an sich nicht packen (so viel Teenagerliebe in Schottland und so wenig verregneter Sommer am Genfer See - umgedreht wäre es für die meisten Leser sicherlich spannender). Natürlich wollte ich viel mehr über den Sommer am Genfer See lesen, wo Byron, Polidori und Mary+Percy Shelley so einregneten, dass sie einen Geistergeschichtenwettbewerb starteten, bei dem berühmterweise "Frankenstein" herauskam. Stattdessen so viel über eine aufkeimende Liebe zwischen Mary und ihrer Freundin Isabella während eines Sommers in Schottland zu lesen, war nicht, was ich erwartet hatte. Allerdings wird mit fortschreitendem Roman immer unklarer, was eigentlich passiert. Die handelnden Personen werden zunehmend ambivalent und man darf sich beim Lesen fragen: Spinnen und fantasieren sich die beiden Mädchen Dinge (=Monster) zusammen oder ist das alles nur Einbildung? Ist der Nachbar ein heimlicher Alchemist oder ein treusorgender Ehemann? Wie Eekhout sprachlich immer wieder um diese Themen zirkelt und nie eine abschließende Antwort gibt, das war genau mein Fall.
Also einer dieser Romane, wo mich nicht packt, was erzählt wird, sondern wie.
ABER: Hier hat sich das Dranbleiben gelohnt. Bis zum Schluss konnte mich die Geschichte an sich nicht packen (so viel Teenagerliebe in Schottland und so wenig verregneter Sommer am Genfer See - umgedreht wäre es für die meisten Leser sicherlich spannender). Natürlich wollte ich viel mehr über den Sommer am Genfer See lesen, wo Byron, Polidori und Mary+Percy Shelley so einregneten, dass sie einen Geistergeschichtenwettbewerb starteten, bei dem berühmterweise "Frankenstein" herauskam. Stattdessen so viel über eine aufkeimende Liebe zwischen Mary und ihrer Freundin Isabella während eines Sommers in Schottland zu lesen, war nicht, was ich erwartet hatte. Allerdings wird mit fortschreitendem Roman immer unklarer, was eigentlich passiert. Die handelnden Personen werden zunehmend ambivalent und man darf sich beim Lesen fragen: Spinnen und fantasieren sich die beiden Mädchen Dinge (=Monster) zusammen oder ist das alles nur Einbildung? Ist der Nachbar ein heimlicher Alchemist oder ein treusorgender Ehemann? Wie Eekhout sprachlich immer wieder um diese Themen zirkelt und nie eine abschließende Antwort gibt, das war genau mein Fall.
Also einer dieser Romane, wo mich nicht packt, was erzählt wird, sondern wie.
May 8, 2024
way more nipples than I'd bargained for
January 24, 2023
“Non ho capito” è la prima cosa che ho pensato appena chiusa l’ultima pagina.
Peccato. Le aspettative erano alte, ma troppi enigmi in troppo poco spazio sono risultati caotici e tante strade aperte non sono state chiuse.
Peccato. Le aspettative erano alte, ma troppi enigmi in troppo poco spazio sono risultati caotici e tante strade aperte non sono state chiuse.
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