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msjayteerattray 's review for:
Mary & the Birth of Frankenstein: A Novel
by Anne Eekhout
Beside the house where the Baxter’s lived is a set of stars that connect the two parts of Baffin Street, they’re nicknamed Frankenstein’s Steps. When I was a teenager they were part of the route between my house and my grandparents. This book is set in my neck of the woods.
I felt like the author got her version of Scotland from watching Braveheart or Outlander, not from its actual history.
She treated the execution of witches like it was something exciting. These were women on the margins of society, falsely accused, tortured and executed by the state. The inclusion of Grissel Jaffray felt distasteful, this was a real woman who did nothing wrong.
Also, in the early 19th century no middle class girl would tell anyone they were related to a woman executed for witchcraft, even if was true. She would not have been seen as exciting, she would have been seen as a cautionary tale.
This book really didn’t understand the Scottish Enlightenment. At the time Scotland had more than twice the number of universities as England. Dundee was a radical city and the Baxter’s were a part of that. Mary was sent there to help with her education.
Also, I’m not well versed in Frankenstein but isn’t it supposed to be science fiction, not fantasy?
I felt like the author got her version of Scotland from watching Braveheart or Outlander, not from its actual history.
She treated the execution of witches like it was something exciting. These were women on the margins of society, falsely accused, tortured and executed by the state. The inclusion of Grissel Jaffray felt distasteful, this was a real woman who did nothing wrong.
Also, in the early 19th century no middle class girl would tell anyone they were related to a woman executed for witchcraft, even if was true. She would not have been seen as exciting, she would have been seen as a cautionary tale.
This book really didn’t understand the Scottish Enlightenment. At the time Scotland had more than twice the number of universities as England. Dundee was a radical city and the Baxter’s were a part of that. Mary was sent there to help with her education.
Also, I’m not well versed in Frankenstein but isn’t it supposed to be science fiction, not fantasy?