British writer Coco Mellors’s debut novel “Cleopatra and Frankenstein” was published in February of 2022, and since then it’s been compared to Irish author Sally Rooney’s works. As with the genre of Literary Fiction, Mellors explores themes of addiction and loneliness through her character’s personalities and struggles. As of today, the book is a Sunday Times Bestseller and a Goodreads Choice Award Finalist. Recently, Warner Bros. has optioned to adapt “Cleopatra and Frankenstein” into a TV show.
Behind the novel’s inspiration lies Mellors’s own experience with addiction and moving away from home. She moved from London to America to earn her MFA in Fiction from New York University. After writing her debut novel for seven years, Bloomsbury Publishing released her book in 2022. Mellors’s writing has also appeared in magazines such as British Vogue, The Cut, and the New York Times’s Modern Love column.
“Cleopatra and Frankenstein” is about Cleo, a twenty-four-year old painter, and Frank, a business man twenty years her senior. When the two meet, they’re instantly drawn to one another, like opposite ends of magnets. They can’t keep their hands off of each other. After a few months of knowing each other, Frank proposes an opportunity to secure Cleo’s happiness—marrying him, so she can get her Green Card, since is from Britain. Cleo says yes, and their impulsive marriage not only fractures them as individuals but the others around them as well. She claims she loves him, and their marriage isn’t just about the Green Card, but isn’t it? Does she even know what love is at her age?
Let me start off by saying that this book knocked me around like a whirlwind while I was reading it. Many emotions gathered in my chest, and I couldn’t exactly understand what I was feeling. Did I like the book? Did I not? What’s even happening? Am I not meant to like these characters? Spoilers: No, you’re definitely not.
That’s actually one part of the story I listed as “not like” in my notes, but again, I don’t think you’re supposed to. The characters, especially our main characters, Frank and Cleo, are incredibly impulsive, messy and noncommunicative, but that leaves the question: Did Mellors write them that way because it’s realistic, or is it bad writing? I’d argue it’s the first. The thing about Literary Fiction is that the characters are written in a hyper realistic way where you could possibly meet the person the author is writing about.
Something I truly didn’t like, however, was the repetitive writing and extremely long chapters. I’m not a long chapters type of person. I much prefer chapters around six to ten pages, max fifteen, but this book’s chapters? Wow. They were around thirty pages long. My brain grew numb each time I flipped the page, and I realized the chapter still wasn’t done. On to the writing, Coco Mellors is an interesting writer to me where every now and then, she’ll have nice anecdotal lines about life, love and loneliness. Then for most of the time, the writing is a style I really don’t like called Stream of Consciousness. It’s when the writer repeats the same thing over, and over, and over again to demonstrate the character’s nervous thinking patterns. I understand the point of the writing style, but when the book is full of that, it becomes tedious to read.
Another thing I thought was a let down was the development of some of the subplots with a few side characters. In the book’s blurb, it states, “Whether it’s Cleo’s best friend struggling to embrace his gender queerness in the wake of Cleo’s marriage, or Frank’s financially dependent sister arranging sugar daddy dates to support herself after being cut off.” The blurb gives a tease about future subplots for certain characters, but those chapters are barely around. Cleo’s queer best friend only gets one chapter exploring him and possibly being transgender, and after that it never comes up again. Frank’s little sister thinking of becoming a “sugar baby” to a sugar daddy happens in the beginning of the novel, and we don’t get another chapter for that storyline until the second to last chapter. And honestly, that was the storyline I was most excited about because the character is my age, struggling with finances, and I found that relatable. When I realized her story wasn’t going to appear for a while, I felt saddened.
Moving onto parts of the book I did enjoy, I liked Frank’s little sister Zoe, and two other side characters, Audrey and Eleanor. They were nice additions to the story, bringing light heartedness and humor in an otherwise sad book. I also liked how captive the book held me. Despite the clunky writing and long chapters, I still had a hard time putting the book down. I wanted to keep reading, to know where each story was going, to watch the drama unfold like a Reality TV show. Before picking up this book, I was in a massive reading slump, finishing around one book a month, sometimes longer. I finished Cleopatra and Frankenstein in 12 days.
I read this book in the middle of June, but since a good amount of the story is set in Winter, I’d recommend reading it then. Currently writing this, I’d rate this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars. It was good for the most part, and I’d recommend it if you’re into Literary Fiction. Be aware though, there are some heavier themes and scenes, so be sure to look up content warnings. I picked up this book because I adored the cover. Let’s just say that what was behind it made me spiral, laugh, tear up, and decide to maybe understand the blurb first before purchasing a book.