I was in our local library picking up some holds when I spotted Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel on the new arrivals shelf. I’m fascinated by Frankenstein, both the novel and the various sequels and reinterpretations of the story and its characters. I recently did a search for Frankenstein books on Amazon to see how many versions of the tale were out there and got a result twenty pages long. That’s over 300 books. An awful lot of those listings were for different editions of the original novel. That’s not surprising. The book has been in public domain for over a century and this year is the 200th anniversary of its first publication. I compiled a wishlist of a few of the more interesting versions of the original and as many sequels/adaptations/whathaveyous as I could winnow out. I’m sure the final list is incomplete. I doubt that I will get around to reading most of the books on the list. That would require more time and money than I’m willing to invest.

Pride and Prometheus, however, was just sitting on a shelf in front of me. I didn’t bother resisting.

The book is a sequel to Pride and Prejudice and an alternate version of Frankenstein. The story takes place a few years after the events of Pride and centers around the relationships between Mary Bennet, Victor Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s creation. The events mostly take place during Frankenstein’s time in the British Isles when he was collecting ingredients for (and putting off actually building) a mate for his creation.

I enjoyed it. It’s a sad story. All the best versions of Frankenstein are. The myth of Frankenstein is a tale of a mad scientist who creates a brute who goes on a rampage. The actual novel is about an irresponsible parent. Frankenstein creates a being and then refuses to care for it. He’s not an evil man. He’s a self centered one. His creation is smart and sensitive and rejected by all who meet him. He does bad things out of childish anger. In Pride and Prometheus, Kessel gives us alternating first person narrations by both Frankenstein and his creation. Mary Bennet (her sections told in third person) finds herself caught between the two and tries to help them find peace and common ground. Does she succeed?

As a fan of Frankenstein, I enjoyed this book. I don’t know how well it will read to Pride fans. I haven’t read that novel. I’ve seen both the 2005 film and the 1995 television miniseries. I understand that both adaptations of pretty faithful, certainly more faithful than any filmed version of Frankenstein. Elizabeth Bennet and Darcy are only background characters. Mary and Kitty, the unmarried sisters, get center stage here. At 32 and 30 they are both facing the prospect of becoming “old maids” and neither likes the idea. Mary gets the book’s focus. She’s more accepting of the idea of spinsterhood but she still dreams of making a connection with an amiable gentleman. A chance encounter with Frankenstein leads her to think that he might be that gentleman.

Recommended.

Pride and Prometheus