Love & Other Monsters

Franklin (The Lioness of Boston) impresses with this historical novel featuring Claire Clairmont, the stepsister of Mary Godwin and the least celebrated member of their circle of Romantic poets and writers. In spring 1816, 17-year-old Claire is living in London with Mary, her future husband, Percy Shelley, and their infant son. She’s written a novel and works assiduously on her journal, but unlike Mary and Percy, she’s unsure of her vocation. Fascinated by the notorious Lord Byron, she introduces herself to him and the two begin a secret affair. Claire, passionately in love, hopes to join Byron on his summer stay in Switzerland. Instead, he ends their relationship, and she persuades Mary and Percy to relocate near Byron’s villa. As the others immerse themselves in writing, she feels isolated, beset by the doubt of “knowing I was not gifted as the others” and heartache over Byron, especially after their affair resumes but he insists on keeping it secret. Franklin captures the timeless quality of a young woman’s desire for purpose as well as the gloomy weather of that summer, when the fierce cold and damp resulting from the eruption of an volcano in Indonesia isolated the group and provided a suitably gothic backdrop for their work. This offers a fresh perspective on a famous moment in literary history. Agent: Jennifer Gates, Aevitas Creative Management. (Apr.)