love & other monsters by emily franklin
I got a review copy of this book from NetGalley quite awhile ago on somewhat of a whim. I've never read any of the works by any of the authors who make an appearance in the story, including Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but the premise of another person without literary fame existing in the story peaked my interest. The title's also very cool. And wow, am I glad I followed my gut and requested this book! Despite (or perhaps because of) my lack of knowledge about any of the people, the specific year the story takes place, or any of the work, when I finally had time to sit down and read this book properly, I could barely handle putting it down.
To keep it brief, this Love & Other Monsters is told from the perspective of Claire Clairmont, the stepsister of Mary Shelley, and takes place for the most part during the summer of 1816. Readers of Frankenstein may know that this is the summer that Mary Shelley wrote the famous novel. But the story isn't really about Mary Shelley. It's not strictly about Percy Shelly, Lord Byron, or John Polidori either. This novel is really about Claire. Per the author's own admission, the novel theorizes how Claire might have felt and acted during the summer of 1816—especially since it seems there was a genuine attempt to erase her existence from the events that took place there. I did a Wikipedia deep dive afterwards that I wouldn't get into here (and the book itself cites numerous sources at the end), but it's safe to say this novel has turned me off reading anything from the people presented in the story other than Polidori for the immediate future.
I really liked everything about this book, but something that really speaks to me now that I'm settled down and writing a proper review is the choice in title. In the early pages, Claire is a bright, if lustful youth. She experiences desire and wants access to those desires—in this case, what ends up being an extended affair with Lord Byron. But the further along you get in the book, the more obvious the darker undertones become. Misogyny obviously has a very significant place in the narrative give the time period (not that this is a solved problem even now), but the influence of the power dynamics within the party are where I think things get really interesting. There are so many questions of morality and Claire is trying to juggle all of these relationships and trauma she doesn't even seem fully aware that she has.
The story portrays with precision how relationship dynamics can change everything and how easy it is for monsters to hide among us—how monstrous behaviour can ruin lives. It would be pretty easy to simply brush off Claire as a lustful and ignorant teenager and lay the blame at her feet. I think that is what happened to her when she lived. But ignoring circumstances and the fact that nobody is born with the knowledge of the world is unfair. People make unwise decisions all the time, regardless of age, and this telling suggests an alternative where a young woman was frankly trying to survive in a pool of sharks. It's a sentiment many marginalized people know well.
We will likely never know the complete truth of what happened and which actors/actions caused which results, but this story about Claire Clairmont holds significant value regardless. It asks us to consider the possibilities, recognize marginalization and victimization for what they are within oppressive power dynamics and systems, and perhaps most importantly, to watch out for and fight against the monsters hiding in plain sight.
Updated 2 weeks, 3 days ago