Following Frankenstein by Catherine Bruton

Maggie is an interesting protagonist – strong-willed but lonely and desperate for her father’s love. Everyone knows the story of Victor Frankenstein and his monster so it’s really interesting seeing his impact on a family and then putting them on a collision course with the monster’s son.

Having read Another Twist in the Tale earlier this year (reviewed here), Catherine demonstrates with Following Frankenstein that she is the queen of continuing a classic novel faithfully. On board, the pair are left stunned to discover that Frankenstein’s monster has a son… and meeting him will change their lives forever… Their relationship is fractured as Robert bets everything on a final voyage to the Arctic and Maggie becomes a stowaway to see him. In this ‘sequel’ to Mary Shelley’s gothic classic, Following Frankenstein follows Maggie Walton, whose father has dedicated his life to hunting the monster created by Frankenstein and she is left with her mouse, Victor. I was rocked to sleep with tales of the creature’s misery, then its rage, and finally its murderous revenge. My earliest memories were of my father telling me it as a bedtime story, breathlessly recounting how the scientist, so horrified when he saw what he had done, ran off into the night, abandoning the monster he had made. The story of the scientist who played God, who created a man of threads and patches, then infused the spark of life into its cold form and brought it into being.

I didn’t need to, but I had learnt the tale of Victor Frankenstein before I was five years old.

Following Frankenstein by Catherine Bruton