Our Hideous Progeny: A thrilling Gothic Adventure

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She knows her great uncle disappeared in mysterious circumstances in the Arctic but she doesn't know why or how. For fans of queer fiction, imaginative historical fiction, admirers of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (of course! The only thing that Mary knows about her great uncle, Victor Frankenstein, is that he went missing in mysterious circumstances in the Arctic, other than that she knows nothing - well not yet anyway!

Jamsetjee who was such a sweetheart) though the realism and accuracy to the contemporary attitudes of the day were spot on and really highlighted how remarkably strong Mary (and others like her) had to be to persevere in such a harsh, discriminatory environment. I was in absolute awe of just how immersive the descriptions were and loved that it really delves into the inequalities of the Victorian era and the classist, sexist and racist attitudes which were prevalent and still very much relevant today. The reader is given plenty of hints that there’s more to this reality than the characters believe, but there are 500 pages to go before the mind-boggling reveal. Events are presented from different perspectives, as “the truth” (memoir, true crime) and as fiction.

We honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' continuous connection to Country, waters, skies and communities. No one will be able to ignore their achievement—the scientific community must accept them if they succeed. If you’re looking for a new take on Frankenstein, or just really enjoy gothic vibes (with some science and historical fiction thrown in) then this is definitely one for you! Mary longs to make her mark as a scientist, but for a woman in Victorian London it’s almost impossible.

Once they have successfully constructed their Creature, Henry’s ambition soars, but Mary finds herself asking deeper, more important questions than she’s ever confronted before. Lots of references to all the science which was just literally exploding at the time- through both trained academics and talented amateurs. The debut author’s original, feminist variation on Mary Shelley’s foundational text makes for a wonderfully rich, emotionally engaging tale with the flavour and appeal of a great 19th-century novel. There are villains in this story, but no heroes; heroines instead take their place, in the form of Mary, and her poorly, gentle sister-in-law Maisie.

But when Mary discovers some old family papers that allude to the shocking truth behind her great-uncle's past, she thinks she may have found the key to securing their future.

The year is 1853, and Victor Frankenstein’s great-niece, Mary Sutherland, and her husband, Henry, are desperate to break into the science of paleontology. Mary, with a sharp mind and a sharper tongue, is keen to make her name in this world of science, alongside her geologist husband Henry, but without wealth and connections, their options are limited. It probes and challenges the values of Mary's time in a way that makes readers ache for her and consider the limitations of our present world. Mary wants to be known for her scientific mind, but as a woman in the 1850s, this is going to be so much more difficult than it would be for a man.It failed to offer anything unique or distinct from the original Frankenstein, and it could even be argued that it offers far less. Nevertheless, I found this quite slow to get going and was never surprised by the narrative - it goes where we'd expect a modern, feminist-y re-writing of Frankenstein to go. With even a brief mention of Charles Darwin and Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck, it ties the fictitious with the real-world scientists seamlessly. Frankenstein's great niece Mary Sutherland and her husband, Henry, are trying to follow in his scientific footsteps and become renowned paleontologists. This book is filled with science - which may sound boring, at first mention, but proves itself to be anything but.