betty reviewed Our Hideous Progeny by C. E. McGill
gay lovechild of Charlotte Bronte and Mary Shelley
4 stars
This is a book that grabs you in the same way Bronte and Shelley grab you, although the voice is more Bronte. A clever, fierce woman who looks around her and sees how limited her options are is definitely Bronte's influence, but the novel is a direct response to Shelley's Frankenstein.
The novel is interested in how we permit people to make their way in the world, and what it means to pursue immortality, either through children, fame, or work. This sounds tedious, but even when the narrator is moping or grinding away at thankless labour, it never is. The novel's charm is (again, Bronte) the voice of the narrator, a woman who is a little ghoulish, a lot clever, and very frustrated by what she is permitted by society and the men around her.
The writing is tight and competent, the historical research is never obtrusive but just gives …
This is a book that grabs you in the same way Bronte and Shelley grab you, although the voice is more Bronte. A clever, fierce woman who looks around her and sees how limited her options are is definitely Bronte's influence, but the novel is a direct response to Shelley's Frankenstein.
The novel is interested in how we permit people to make their way in the world, and what it means to pursue immortality, either through children, fame, or work. This sounds tedious, but even when the narrator is moping or grinding away at thankless labour, it never is. The novel's charm is (again, Bronte) the voice of the narrator, a woman who is a little ghoulish, a lot clever, and very frustrated by what she is permitted by society and the men around her.
The writing is tight and competent, the historical research is never obtrusive but just gives everything a lifelike feel, and the plotting was satisfying except for one plot turn at the end that I can't decide if I find thematically satisfying or not.
Recomended if you like Mary Shelley, Charlotte Bronte, or got really into a paleontology podcast last spring. Or women being gay.
