Why a Booktrail?
1816: There is a beast inside her, a monster. It wants to scream, it wants to tear things apart.
Mary (or the Birth of Frankenstein)
What you need to know before your trail
Mary, eighteen years old, is staying in a villa on Lake Geneva with her lover Percy Shelley. She is tormented by his infidelities; haunted by the loss of her baby daughter.
Then one evening with friends, as storms rage outside and laudanum stirs their imaginations, Lord Byron challenges everyone to write a ghost story, and something fierce and wild awakens in Mary.
Memories surface of the long, strange summer she once spent with a family in Scotland, where she found herself falling in love with the enigmatic Isabella Baxter. She learned tales of mythical beasts, witches and spirits. And she encountered real monsters – both in the rocky wilds, and far, far closer to home…
Illuminating the past like a flash of lightning, this brilliant reimagining of the birth of Frankenstein takes us into a feverish world of waking dreams-where grief mingles with desire, and the veil between beauty and horror grows thin.
Locations
Reset- Switzerland
- A: Geneva - Lake Geneva
- B: Cologny - Villa Diodati
- France - French Alps
- I: Chamonix -Mer de glace
Travel Guide
A Tour of Frankenstein locations!
Scotland – Dundee
Home of the Baxter family
This is interesting. Today, you can see the plaque where ‘the cottage’ stood where Mary, for a few months in 1812 (and again in 1814) stayed with the Baxter family
The Howff graveyard
A solemn place where Isabella takes Mary to tell her about Grissel Jaffray, a supposed witch. You can imagine what went on here and can feel the hairs on your neck stand up if you stand here with the book in your hand!
Dundee Docks
Mary takes a walk and meets the strange lady that sets off a story in her. It’s not the most inspiring of places but it has a presence and in the 1800s would have looked very ghostly and mysterious. That metal clanking would have made the ultimate sound track!
Lindores Abbey
Where Mary and the Baxters go for a picnic for Mary’s birthday and Mr Booth warns Mary about Isabella. A nice place for lunch even if she does get a warning!St Andrews Cathedral
Where Mary eavesdrops and finds out Mr Booth’s plan for Isabella’s future. Not surprising as it’s amazing what you hear amongst the echoes of a church.
France – Mer de glace
Glacier near the Village of Chamonix at the foot of the Mont Blanc in France
Where Mary, Claire and Percy travelled for a few days in 1816 and where Mary presumably found the inspiration for the setting of the end of Frankenstein
Switzerland (Geneva and Cologny)
Villa Diodati
The famous villa where in 1816 Lord Byron resided with John Polidori and Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley and Claire Clairmont often visited and Mary began writing Frankenstein
Streetview Maps
A) Switzerland - Villa Diodati
D) Dundee - Frankenstein steps and Baxter house
E) Dundee - The Howff Cemetery
G) Dundee - Lindores Abbey
Booktrailer Review
Kudos not only to author Anne Eekhout, but to her translator translator, Laura Watkinson as this is an excellent translation. I am learning Dutch so couldn’t read the novel in its original language but when I can, I have something to look forward to – the language is just lovely!
What a clever idea to look at Mary in her teenage years before she wrote Frankenstein, Mary is a fascinating character in her own right – trying to find her way in a world full of ,and made for, men.
There is great passion on every page – the author has clearly inhabited the body of Mary for the duration of this novel. Method when you think of Frankenstein! Captivating and very interesting indeed.
Oh and the setting is to die for! Look at the places Mary takes you – Dundee with this book would be even more captivating.
A great read.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Mary
Destination: Dundee, Geneva, French Alps Author/guide: Anne Eekhout Departure Time: 1816
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