Cleopatra and Frankenstein, Coco Mellors
Cleopatra and Frankenstein is an astounding and painfully relatable debut novel about the spontaneous decisions that shape our entire lives and those imperfect relationships born of unexpectedly perfect evenings.
This book is a game-changer. Cleopatra and Frankenstein completely blew me away–so much so that it’s already one of my favourite books of the year. It’s hard to believe that this is Coco Mellors’ debut novel.
Cleo meets Frank, 20 years her senior, as she’s leaving a New Year’s Eve party, and I was hooked on both of their characters from that first encounter. They each offer the other something they had been missing in their lives, and we follow them through their whirlwind relationship as it progresses with speed throughout the story. I loved the pacing of this novel; the narrative pushes forward through time and shows each character at different junctions of their lives, highlighting that the decisions we make shape our future in ways that we can’t imagine. It felt fresh and intimate.
Cleopatra and Frankenstein is packed with well-written, believable and layered characters but Cleo and Frank, in particular, are brilliant. I could see parts of myself in both of them and, although I read this book a few months ago, I still find myself wondering about them. They felt (and still feel) so real to me, as both are enchanting and flawed in their own unique ways. I particularly enjoyed their dialogue, as this isn’t a skill that all writers master; however, the conversations between Cleo and Frank felt natural and true to life. If I had to put a genre to this book, I’d probably say that it’s a modern love story, although I feel that definition does the book a disservice because it is so fresh and so unique. Having said that, it is extremely modern, and it is ultimately a brilliant story about love.
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