Love, Sex & Frankenstein

Caroline Lea

$45

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Michael Joseph Ltd
19 June 2025

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945); Historical mysteries; Historical fiction; Fiction: special features

A suspense-filled retelling of the dark summer that should have broken Mary Shelley - but inspired her to write Frankenstein instead . . .

Villa Diodati, Lake Geneva, 1816.

Eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley has fled London with her lover, Percy Shelley, and her sister, Claire. Tormented by Shelley's betrayals, haunted by the loss of their baby and suspicious of her sister's intentions, Mary seeks a refuge.

But Lord Byron's villa, lying under ash-shrouded skies, feels more like a trap. When Byron suggests each guest write a supernatural tale, Mary is as drawn to the challenge as she is, unexpectedly, to Byron himself.

An idea begins to form in her mind . . . spilling out of her in thick, black ink.

A thing given life is before her. But is she in control, or is it?

By: Caroline Lea
Imprint: Michael Joseph Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 224mm, Width: 145mm, Spine: 35mm
Weight: 501g
ISBN: 9780241493014
ISBN 10: 0241493013
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 19 June 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Caroline Lea grew up on the island of Jersey. The Glass Woman, her debut, is a gothic thriller set during the Icelandic witch trials. The Metal Heart, a Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month, is an epic Second World War love story; Prize Women reveals a feminist scandal at the heart of the roaring 20s. Her latest novel reimagines Mary Shelley and the writing of Frankenstein.

Reviews for Love, Sex & Frankenstein

An astonishing and spectacular book. I felt I was there every step of the way with Mary Shelley as she experienced the desperate pain of her love for Shelley, her desire for Byron and most importantly the battle to find her own voice and write her masterpiece, Frankenstein. A wonderful book about loving the monster inside us all and the freedom that can bring. There are rare moments when an author creates something they were born to write and this is Caroline’s moment. This book is an absolute masterpiece. Brava. * Julie Owen-Moylan, author of That Green Eyed Girl * Love, Sex & Frankenstein is an intoxicating tale about the monsters suppressed inside us. Fury and passion, obsession and revenge sizzle beneath the surface as out-of-this-world prose spins the book to a powerful, sensual grand finale. What a firecracker of a story - it completely swept me off my feet! * Fiza Saeed McLynn, author of The Midnight Carousel *