Just Jennifer

The Lady and Her Monsters: A Tale of Dissections, Real-Life Dr. Frankensteins, and the Creation of Mary Shelley’s Masterpiece by Roseanne Montillo (William Morrow, February 2013)

The name Frankenstein conjures up, for most people, a huge green monster with bolts coming out of his neck when, in reality, Frankenstein was the name of the doctor who created the monster in Mary Shelley’s gothic horror novel.  During the nineteenth century, not only were scientists and doctors fascinated by the human body, its life and death, and the possibility of life after death, not in the spiritual sense, but reviving the body using artificial, electrical means.  Many philosophers, artists, writers and everyday people could not look away as they became intrigued by the possibilities, elevating grave robbing and experimenting on the newly dead to almost a cottage industry.  Rosanne Montillo recreates this world in which Shelley was living, introduces the characters in her life and puts into context the scientific curiosities of the time that contributed to her writing Frankenstein.  Mary’s personal and familial lives are also woven into the narrative, giving a portrait of not only the times, but of the woman who created the masterpiece we know today.