Frankissstein

This "thought-provoking and . . . unabashedly entertaining . . . novel defies conventional expectations and exists, brilliantly and defiantly, on its own terms" (Sarah Lotz, New York Times Book Review).

Lake Geneva, 1816. Nineteen-year-old Mary Shelley is inspired to write a story about a scientist who creates a new life-form. In Brexit Britain, a young transgender doctor called Ry is falling in love with Victor Stein, a celebrated professor leading the public debate around AI and carrying out some experiments of his own in a vast underground network of tunnels. Meanwhile, Ron Lord, just divorced and living with his mom again, is set to make his fortune launching a new generation of sex dolls. Across the Atlantic, in Phoenix, Arizona, a cryogenics facility houses dozens of bodies of men and women who are medically and legally dead . . . but waiting to return to life.

Since her astonishing debut Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson has achieved worldwide acclaim as "one of the most daring and inventive writers of our time" (Elle). In Frankissstein, she shares an audacious love story that weaves together disparate lives into an exploration of transhumanism, artificial intelligence, and queer love.

Longlisted for the Booker Prize

BUY THE BOOK

Published Oct 1, 2019

352 pages

Average rating: 6.25

4 RATINGS

|

Community Reviews

Paisley
Jan 25, 2026
6/10 stars
What would Dr. Frankenstein's monster be like in the 20th century. How about Mary Shelley, Byron, Claire and all the other characters? This story attempts to answer that question while also traveling to the early 1800's to look at Mary Shelley's life right before and after having written the story that made her famous.

See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.