Love & Other Monsters by Emily Franklin

1816, the Year Without a Summer, is familiar to many people, whether because of the historical significance of the Mount Tambora eruption or because of the literary significance of the intellectual gathering at Lake Geneva, which led to Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein and inventing what would become science fiction.

Love & Other Monsters is focused on the latter, but it tells the story through the point of view of Claire Clairmont, Mary’s stepsister and one of Lord Byron’s many lovers. The book is at once a coming-of-age novel, though it doesn’t seem that way to begin with, and a rich look into history. At times, the details and introspection bog down the narrative, but they are so beautifully written that it is an easy fault to forgive. Mostly, I was enmeshed in the story, in Claire’s desperation to prove herself and to determine what sort of woman she will grow into.

There are many books telling chapters of history from the perspective of forgotten women. Many of those books are, sadly, forgettable themselves. Love & Other Monsters deserves to be one that is remembered.