276°
Posted 20 hours ago

Our Hideous Progeny: A thrilling Gothic Adventure

£8.495£16.99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

Fans of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and historical horror with a queer feminist twist will not be disappointed. LIBRARY JOURNAL C.E. McGill’s richly detailed and utterly compelling debut was a deliciously gothic and feminist exploration of ambition, obsession, betrayal and love that I couldn’t get enough of!

But Mary, declared illegitimate by her family, and Henry, sort of disinherited from his, are in a continual struggle just to make ends meet. They're part of a great scientific circle of inventors and scientists - and yet they are not. However, things start to change when Mary learns who her distant great-uncle, Victor Frankenstein, was and what he accomplished. So at this point the story delves from real history (and real science) into the world of horror and science fiction. But it's a beautiful evolution - or de-evolution - in the hands of CE McGill, the writer. There is SO MUCH going on in this book. Mary's fascination with what she learns about Great Uncle Victor. Her relationship with her husband and her husband's sister. (Gorgeously written.) There's a villain - of course there is! And the whole atmosphere and landscape of rural England in the mid-1800's, along with the poverty and squalor in the great cities. And through it all marches Mary... Compelling and utterly absorbing, Our Hideous Progeny is an artfully crafted debut that echoes the dark essence of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein while maintaining a fascinating originality all of its own. SUSAN STOKES-CHAPMAN, author of PANDORA OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: Mary is the great-niece of Victor Frankenstein. She knows her great uncle disappeared in mysterious circumstances in the Arctic but she doesn't know why or how...This is an eARC that I was able to read in exchange for my honest thoughts and review, with thanks to Random House Transworld Publishing and NetGalley. I suppose that is why it often makes me sad to read about history, or even natural history, as you do; I cannot help but think of everyone whose tale cannot fit in one book, those poor creatures who remain lost or forgotten. Do you think that one day, some Mary of the future will sketch our bones and wonder what we might have been in life?” Historical fiction with a dark twist in the spirit of Circe, Ariadne, and Mexican Gothic, Our Hideous Progeny is a brilliant revisiting of Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein that unfolds with a fresh, provocative, queer twist.

Witty, dark and sharp as a scalpel, it's a dazzling exploration of the macabre ambitions of Victorian science and a moving meditation on grief. C.E. McGill brilliantly captures what it's like to be a woman in a man's world. LIZZIE POOK, author of MOONLIGHT AND THE PEARLER'S DAUGHTER The 1850s are a time of discovery, and London is ablaze with the latest scientific theories and debates, especially when a spectacular new exhibition of dinosaur sculptures opens at the Crystal Palace. Mary is keen to make her name in this world of science alongside her geologist husband, Henry—but despite her sharp mind and sharper tongue, without wealth and connections their options are limited. Our Hideous Progeny has so much going on that it's hard to know where to start a review. We follow Mary, an aspiring palaeontologist living in London in 1853. She's quietly bisexual, married to a geologist she isn't quite sure she loves or respects any more, mourning a stillborn daughter, processing the effects of a traumatic childhood, looking for a way to make her mark on the world.I have three words for you: queer, feminist, Frankenstein. Let that sink in for a minute and then go run to grab a copy of this one. This is a multi genre book and manages to pull them off seamlessly. The author does a superb job of portraying the blood boiling way in which women were treated in 1850, especially while trying to work in a field that is dominated by men. The tide begins to change, however, when Mary finds old documents belonging to her Uncle Victor. After reading them, she decides to follow in his footsteps, thereby devising a plan to create life. She and Henry, in time, construct a patchwork creature, made from pieces and parts of deceased animals; a creature that will ultimately drive the couple apart due to Mary’s love for it and Henry’s desire to exploit it.

The pacing of this novel did the story a huge disservice. While I enjoy a well done atmospheric ‘vibes over plot’ storyline, I still require thematic contemplation to occupy my mind. Almost 60% of this book was dedicated to simple day-to-day recounting. Various scientific presentations, diner parties, conversations occur to hound in the fact that the 19th century was deeply misogynistic and racist. I did not need that many chapters to explain to me why exactly Mary was so angry.Absolutely fantastic news today: my debut novel, the Frankenstein-inspired paleontological gothic OUR HIDEOUS PROGENY, has been acquired by Kirsty Dunseath at Doubleday! Read the full press release here! Our Hideous Progeny takes inspiration from Mary Shelley's masterpiece along with the Victorian fascination with scientific innovation and the prehistoric world. This wonderful debut evolves into a gripping Gothic tale of grief and ambition, passion and intrigue." - Jess Kidd

I’m going to need every to drop what they’re doing and add this to their TBR right now. This was absolutely everything I was hoping for and more. Our Hideous Progeny is a continuation of the Mary Shelley classic, Frankenstein. 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. But together, they have neither money nor good reputation – both of which they need for their academic peers to take them seriously.

See a Problem?

But the TLDR of this review is that I loved this book. I can already tell it's going to be one of my favourites for the year, and if this is what their debut novel looks like, then I cannot wait to see what C.E. McGill turns their mind to next. Who suddenly has an epiphany one day. Who decides to look into Victor Frankenstein's work and research and when she discovers...

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment