The Glowing Hours

In this brilliant reimagining of the tumultuous summer during which Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, Siddiqui (House of Glass Hearts) shifts the focus onto the Shelleys’ housemaid, Mehrunissa “Mehr” Begum, who arrived to England from India in 1815. Mehr, whose father is British and mother Indian, was raised in relative luxury in India. However, in England, she’s neglected by her father and brother, who preceded her there, and forced to work for a living for the first time in her life. She is placed with the Shelleys and taken along on their summer expedition to Geneva where, together with Mary’s stepsister, Claire, they will stay with Lord Byron and his physician, Polidori, and work on their writing. Siddiqui masterfully evokes the time period and creates an atmosphere dripping with unease as Mary and Mehr begin to have converging nightmares in their eerie vacation villa. Though the life of Mary Shelley has often been mined for material, Siddiqui brings a fresh perspective through the eyes of the witty and sullen Mehr, whose backstory and fraught relationships with the increasingly entangled Geneva party add to the intrigue. This is a real treat for fans of gothic fiction. Agent: Lane Clarke, Ultra Literary. (Feb.)