A fantastically moody,unsettling novel,with a teasing,enigmatic atmosphere entirely its own'SARAH WATERS'Intensely lyrical and powerfully haunting... Sublime storytelling and Gothic fiction at its very best!'SUSAN STOKES-CHAPMAN'A novel about wild,dissident passion,the profound dislocations of grief,and the intoxication of composition'NAOMI BOOTH'A beautiful,hallucinatory dream of a novel'J.M. MIROThere is a beast inside her,a monster. It wants to scream,it wants to tear things apart.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.PRAISE FOR FOR MARY'Like reading a laudanum dram'ANNIE GARTHWAITE,author of Cecily'Rich,intricate and beguiling,this is a novel of enormous insight,great heart and incredible skill'NELL STEVENS'A novel that tiptoes and whispers,woos and caresses like the darkest of fairytales'JOANNE BURN,author of The Hemlock Cure'A literary creation story as bold,terrifying,and riveting as Frankenstein itself'LAURIE LICO ALBANESE'A lyrical dream of a book that strays into the nightmarish,the gothic and the eerie with an assured elegance'ELIZABETH LEE,author of Cunning Women'Mary reveals the rich inner life of one of the world's greatest creative imaginations'Sarah Sheridan'Creative confirmation of Shelley's position as the mother of all goth girls. A moody and evocative reveal of the backstory (behind the backstory) of Frankenstein'KIRKUS'A nuanced,beautifully atmospheric portrayal of a young woman's intense inner life,foreshadowing Frankenstein's themes of grief,loneliness,and the desire for love'BOOKLIST
MEDIA REVIEWS
Publisher: Pushkin PressISBN: 9781782278979Dimensions: 234 x 153 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
Afantastically moody,unsettling novel,with a teasing,enigmatic atmosphere entirely its ownIntensely lyrical and powerfully haunting,Mary is an original take on an origin story of one of Britain's most beloved and troubled writers. Sublime storytelling,and Gothic fiction at its very best!A bold new framing for questions about where we draw lines: between queerness and heterosexuality,the natural and the unnatural,and the imaginary and the real... Picks up the seeds dropped by Shelley's biographers about Isabella and allows them to bloom into an intense romantic and sexual attachment... The narrative unfolds in hypnotic language steeped in fantasy and allusionMary imagines,with spell-binding vividness,the forbidden desires and creative inspirations that fuelled Mary Shelley's writing. This is a novel about wild,dissident passion,the profound dislocations of grief,and the intoxication of composition. Eekhout's writing is charged with sensual power: the result is a seductive and unnerving account of Mary's most intimate experiencesA beautiful,hallucinatory dream of a novel,which brings Mary Shelley back to life with a brilliant intensity. This is a marvellous book about desire,and love,and the dark mysteries of the creative actA novel that tiptoes and whispers,woos and caresses like the darkest of fairytales. Laudanum and love,wild imaginations and haunted hearts; I was bewitched by this profound and pleasurable imagining of Mary Shelley and the birth of FrankensteinLike reading a laudanum dream... Both the language and narrative of Anne Eekhout's book have a hallucinatory quality that encourages us to question everything and doubt everyone. The sense of danger,of violence at the hands of man or monsters,is imbued in every sentence. It brought me to a world where the old certainties of society,convention and religion have been stripped away,and where women like Mary Shelley,though unsure of her steps and uncertain of her fellows,found the courage to live and createRich,intricate and beguiling,this is a novel of enormous insight,great heart and incredible skill. Mary has so much to tell us about grief,fear,love and imagination. I will return to it oftenA lyrical dream of a book that strays into the nightmarish,the gothic and the eerie with an assured eleganceCreative confirmation of Shelley's position as the mother of all goth girls. A moody and evocative reveal of the backstory (behind the backstory) of FrankensteinA perceptive examination of the lesser-known relationships and events that would go on to inspire Mary Shelley's classic horror,Frankenstein. Intensely sensual and brooding,this dark romance conjures to life the lost and lonely teenaged girl whose hopes and dreams for the future are haunted by a brooding sense of grief,fear,and desireA literary creation story as bold,terrifying,and riveting as Frankenstein itself. Anne Eekhout captures the imaginary and biographical nuances of joy and heartbreak that surely must feed every enduring masterpieceA compelling and sensitive deep-dive into Mary Shelley's brilliant mind,in the formative years directly before she wrote Frankenstein. Mary reveals the rich inner life of one of the world's greatest creative imaginationsThis gothic,fantasy-tinged historical fiction delves into the teenage years of Mary Shelley to find the inspiration for FrankensteinShe knows how to tell stories. Eekhout keeps up the tension,suggests a great deal,does not spell out much. The book is addictiveA convincing,profound and playful book... Mary,as a multifaceted addition to Frankenstein and the story of its origins,truly brings Mary Shelley to lifeAn exemplary coming-of-age novelEekhout pulls you into her story with playful ease and doesn't let you go again until the final page. Her imagination is convincing and compelling,her suspense-building brilliantThere is thunder and lightning in this book. The young Mary's love of telling stories bubbles off the pages... Eekhout writes fantastically wellA novel about horrifying stories,horrific experiences and how they flow into each other... Eekhout daringly plays with genre elements that would immediately become clichés in the hands of lesser authors. She,however,brings them powerfully to lifeA richly atmospheric novel,full of suspense and eerie surprisesA nuanced,beautifully atmospheric portrayal of a young woman's intense inner life,foreshadowing Frankenstein's themes of grief,loneliness,and the desire for love
Mary; or,The Birth of Frankenstein: An Evening with Anne Eekhout
London - KensingtonWednesday 1st November 18:30
We welcome author Anne Eekhout to Kensington for a spooky and atmospheric evening to celebrate the publication of her debut novel,Mary; Or,The Birth of Frankenstein,which tells the story of Mary Shelley and a fever-dreamed reimagining of the creation of Frankenstein. Anne will be in conversation with Annie Garthwaite,author of Cecily.
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Anne Eekhout in Conversation with Sara Sheridan
DundeeFriday 3rd November 18:00
Join us on the evening of the 3rd November to celebrate the release of Anne Eekhout's book,Mary; or,The Birth of Frankenstein,a dark,brooding,gothic novel that explores the early life of Mary Shelley,including her time in and around Dundee.
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