“A beautiful hallucinatory dream of a novel.” –J.M. Miro Author of the National Bestseller
Ordinary Monsters “A fantastically moody unsettling novel."–Sarah Waters New York Times
bestselling author of The Paying Guests and Fingersmith A "bold ... hypnotic" ( The New
Yorker ) reimagining of Mary Shelley’s youth vividly exploring innocence young love gothic
mystery and the roots of her literary masterpiece Frankenstein. Switzerland 1816. A volcanic
eruption in Indonesia envelopes the whole of Europe in ash and cloud. Amid this “year without a
summer ” eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley and her lover Percy Bysshe Shelley arrive at Lake
Geneva to visit Lord Byron and his companion John Polidori. Anguished by the recent loss of her
child Mary spends her days in strife. But come nightfall the friends while away rainy
wine-soaked evenings gathered around the fireplace exchanging stories. One famous evening
Byron issues a challenge to write the best ghost story. Contemplating what to write Mary
recalls another summer when she was fourteen… Scotland 1812. A guest of the Baxter family
Mary arrives in Dundee befriending young Isabella Baxter. The girls soon spend hours together
wandering through fields and forests concocting tales about mythical Scottish creatures
ghosts and monsters roaming the lowlands. As their bond deepens Mary and Isabella’s feelings
for each other intensify. But someone has been watching them—the charismatic and vaguely
sinister Mr. Booth Isabella's older brother-in-law who may not be as benevolent as he
purports to be… With gripping mastery and verve Anne Eekhout brings to life a defining moment
in Mary Shelley’s youth: the creative wellspring for one of the most original thrilling and
timeless pieces of literature ever written. Provocative wonderfully atmospheric and pulsing
with emotion Mary and the Birth of Frankenstein is a hypnotic ode to the power of imagination.
Translated from the Dutch by Laura Watkinson
