Reviews
A dazzling work of speculative fiction, Fagan presents a crazy, fast, funny and dark tale meditating on the nature of language
The Bookseller
I'm very in love with a writer called Jenni Fagan, she is phenomenal
Samantha Morton
Fagan pulls stories apart in a ferocious and riotous exploration of language that both celebrates the ways it connects us as well as the ways it can cleave us apart. The Fall of Frankenstein gives us Shelley and her monsters as they’ve never been conceived before and gets to the bloody guts of creation in all its forms
Lynsey May
‘Victor Frankenstein is alive and it's 2026 – and he decides to bring back Mary Shelley from the grave. She is in good shape and even better mood. Meanwhile, some words are dying, and Mary, Victor and the ever-resentful Creature will intervene. As usual, Jenni Fagan is brilliant and warm, dazzling and just so unique’
Mariana Enriquez, author of Our Share of Night
About the Book
Across the globe, language is being used to control and to harm; politicians wield it like a weapon. Far away, deep in a silent cave, the Creature awakens, and soon words begin to disappear from the world.
Tired of being immortal Victor Frankenstein has brought Mary Shelley back to life to settle their story once and for all – however, he starts to notice that something is not quite right. Immediately he recognises the hallmarks of his Creature at work and realises he needs the help of Mary Shelley, who he has brought back to life and who has set up the Independent Bureau of Lost Words. Can they track down the Creature in time before all language is lost for ever?
Remixing Mary Shelley’s classic story into a work of dazzling speculative fiction, Jenni Fagan presents a crazy, fast, funny and dark tale that will open readers’ eyes to the power of language and how it can be used by us and against us.
The Author
Jenni Fagan
Dr Jenni Fagan is an award-winning poet, novelist and screenwriter. After the publication of her debut novel, The Panopticon, Jenni was selected as one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists. She has been on lists including the Desmond Elliott Prize, James Tait Black, Sunday Times Short Story Prize and the BBC International Story Prize. The Sunlight Pilgrims saw her win Scottish Author of the Year at the Herald Culture Awards. Her third novel Luckenbooth was praised in The New York Times Book Review, who named her The Patron Saint of Literary Street Urchins. In 2022, Polygon published her novel, Hex, and The Bone Library, a poetry collection written during her time as a Writer in Residence at the Dick Vet Bone Library. Her memoir Ootlin published in 2024, alongside her seventh poetry collection A Swan's Neck on the Butcher's Block. Fagan recently wrote two hundred poems for a collectors book called Heart of the Spirit, celebrating 200 years of The Macallan whisky.
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Paperback | Pub: 05 Sep 2024£10.99
A scintillating collection from one of Scotland’s most original voices. Jenni Fagan converses with the poets of the past; through them, she communes with demons and explores a world that is continually at odds with itself. The poet voyages, as...
