Cleopatra and Frankenstein: A Book Review

I tend to choose what I read carefully. I like to pick up books with a purpose, setting expectations while leaving room for the unexpected. I like to read books in the hope that I find kindred spirits through words. I find solace in knowing that there are people out there who felt and thought the way I did.

When I picked up Coco Mellors’ Cleopatra and Frankenstein I hoped that I would be pulled into a world where I could find a lost part of myself. Before I even started reading the book, it made me nostalgic for my early twenties — a time that was about being lost and longing to be discovered and seen by someone.

Getting to know someone and getting to be known by someone was the most exciting part of every relationship until it wasn’t. As soon as the glossy nights disappeared and the mornings set in, reality was back at the forefront. None of us were as special as we tried to be under the shadows of the night. We quietly acknowledged that and moved on, while continuing to chase the same feelings.

The characters in Coco Mellors’ debut novel seem to be hung up on the same feelings: the desire to be seen and the obsession with being seen as special. When I started reading Cleopatra and Frankenstein, I immediately felt that what I suspected about the novel was true and was therefore satisfied with my pick.

The dialogue between the twenty-four-year-old Cleo and the forty-something Frank was witty and fulfilling until I turned to page two, where I encountered the first cliché and then the next one and the next one. Most of the wittiness turned into millennial humor I encountered too many times on the internet.

After finishing the first chapter of the book, I put it down and had trouble picking it up again. But thanks to its beautiful cover design, it was a book that I happily left lying around on my coffee table. And then it lured me in again.

I reluctantly read the chapter about Cleo and Frank getting married and was overwhelmed by all the characters showing up at once, from Santiago and Quentin to Zoe and Anders. The more I found out about these characters, the less interested I became in them. There was something compelling about each of them, but they ultimately remained shallow and didn’t feel like they really served a purpose.

The partying, the glamour, and the privilege the characters exhibited felt unrealistic, in a way that I accept more easily in a flashy TV show but not on the pages of a novel. In fact, the entire book felt like it was written for TV.

I was skeptical about the plot, the depth of the story, and the writing itself throughout the entire book. But in my opinion, Mellors does have good sentences in her and a substantial understanding of the human condition. This became evident to me when I finally reached the chapter with Eleanor.

Everyone I know is either more successful or more interesting than me. This realization is nothing new. In fact, it used to feel like everyone I didn’t know was more successful and interesting than me too.

Coco Mellors

Getting to know Eleanor through the first-person perspective was refreshing and it had everything that I expected from the book. She was a character that felt real and wanted to know more and more about her. In fact, I wished that the entire book was about her. After her chapter ended, I read on, excited and anxiously waiting for her to return to the pages. I couldn’t care for any of the characters besides Eleanor, except maybe Frank, but because of Eleanor.

Despite not living up fully to my expectations, the book still offers a delightful dose of escapism and insights into what it feels to be a lost twenty-something-year-old, or to be overwhelmed by emotions and life itself. Cleopatra and Frankenstein attempts to tackle complex emotions, from love to loss, grief, mental health, addictions and various questions about identities.

You might find this novel deeply relatable and a beautiful rendering of characters and human relationships, while others might find it shallow and pretentious. It’s not perfect and nor does it have to be. I believe that Mellors has a lot to offer as a writer and I look forward to reading her new book, Blue Sisters.