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Frankenstein's Monster: A Novel

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I always wondered what happened to the monster at the end of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein." The book's ending almost invites a sequel, since the monster is alone in the Arctic. Does he die there? Is he hunted down by Capt. Walton after Victor Frankenstein's death?

Susan Heyboer O'Keefe's novel begins with a log entry written in the Arctic in 1818. It chronicles the events that led to Victor's demise, Walton's discovery of Frankenstein's man-made monster, and some bloody happenings on board ship. The novel borrows from "Les Miserables" as it describes Walton's Javert-like, relentless pursuit of the monster. He has become obsessed with fulfilling Victor Frankenstein's deathbed wish to destroy the abomination.

O'Keefe's style is reminiscent of Shelley's, and she takes great care to emphasize the human qualities of the creature even though it is capable of and undertakes heinous deeds. This balance is what makes the book so interesting. The creature isn't painted in broad strokes, but with nuance and care. We shudder one moment, we are touched the next. This is good writing.

I've always loved "Frankenstein" and have read and re-read it often. "Frankenstein's Monster" is a respectable follow-up to that classic, one that satisfies our interest in the original novel and answers some fascinating "What if...?" questions. The narrative moves briskly and the author's interspersing of prose, dialogue, and journal entries provides the book with welcome variety.

Of course, I read the original story Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I've also watched movies like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and "spin-offs" such as The Bride. I couldn't pass up a chance to read a sequel, which picks up where the first story left off, and tells readers the story of what happened after Frankenstein died on the ship.

Frankenstein's Monster: A Novel, written by Susan Heyboer O'Keefe, begins with a detailed journal entry by Captain Robert Walton. He addresses this particular entry to "Margaret," who is later revealed to be Walton's sister. He describes the friendship & brotherly feelings he had for Victor Frankenstein, and explains why he feels obligated to hunt down the monster that Frankenstein failed to kill. Walton had found the monster standing over Frankenstein's body, and realized that he had not been listening to the ramblings of a madman after all. Walton immediately gives chase across the ice, planning to kill the monster, so the Captain may return to his quest to reach the North Pole. Instead, he loses a finger to the monster, and barely survives the encounter himself.

The story then switches to the POV of the monster, also written in journal format, with location and date at the start of each entry. Walton has tracked him down to Rome, so the monster flees to Venice, where he finds companionship with a beggar, Lucio, and a mute woman, Mirabella. O'Keefe did an excellent job of evoking sympathy for the monster, sharing his most intimate thoughts in his journal, with bits of poetry and quotations from the many books that he reads. Despite his acts of violence, I am reluctant to refer to him as "the monster," but he doesn't take a name for himself until later in the story. Eventually, he takes the name of Victor Hartmann, which I will continue to use as well.

Walton soon becomes the obvious villain in this novel, when he destroys Victor's meager life in Venice. Victor blames himself for putting his friends in harm's way; having been hunted down repeatedly by Walton over the past ten years, Victor feels he should have realized Walton would never give up his obsession. Victor finds out that Walton has family in northern England, and plots his revenge, not unlike what he did to Frankenstein's family in the first book.

After finding Walton's family, Victor also finds his journal, which reveals Walton's twisted view of the events over the past ten years. While Victor writes his own entries, he includes passages from Walton's journal as well. Walton's own words highlight his madness; Walton's sister, Margaret, and her daughter, Lily, contrast sharply with Victor's ideals of what it is to be human, and their characters hint at a sickness that runs in their family.

I was crying by the end of the novel; the epilogue (a personal letter from one of the characters) was a superb finish to a tragic tale of a life that wasn't wanted. A reader's guide is also included at the back of the book.

It's been probably 25 years since I read the original Frankenstein novel. I was a little hesitant to invest time in reading yet another sequel to a great classic, especially by a children's book author (she wrote one of my son's favorite books, One Hungry Monster : A Counting Book in Rhyme Board Book). This is Susan O'Keefe's first book written for adults, and wow, has she found her calling!

This novel starts in the Arctic, where a ship captain named Robert Walton is searching for the North Pole. He finds a man dying on the ice and takes him aboard his ship. This man is Victor Frankenstein, who tells Walton a fantastic tale about a creature he created that is evil and must be stopped. Just before he dies, Frankenstein makes Walton promise to track down and kill his creature. Walton, not believing the creature exists, makes the promise. Not long after, Frankenstein passes and Walton sees the creature who has come aboard to say goodbye to his father. Walton attacks the creature, and is bested. Licking his wounds, he turns around, vowing to kill the creature whatever it takes.

Fast forward 10 years. From this point in the book, we are reading journal entries from the creature himself. This is a tale of his attempt to figure out who he is, where he belongs, and whether he can exist in a world of men. Throughout the book, he is hunted by Walton, who continues his descent into madness.

This story is about the creature (who takes on the name of his creator and becomes Victor) and his life. He finds himself constantly on the move, never allowed to make a home, since he is relentlessly pursued by Walton. This book moves at a fast pace, and you find yourself feeling for Victor even though he does some pretty awful things. I don't want to give you too much of the plot (and I would advise not reading the back of the book, because it does give away some of the plot), because I don't want to spoil this story for you.

One thing I really commend the author on is that the violence (of which there is a good amount) is not overly graphic or gory. It adds to the story, as opposed to taking you out of the story.

I did find the journal entries at the beginning a little distracting and choppy, but I soon got involved in the story. It even made me cry a few times! That is the mark of a great author. I didn't want the book to end. Another thing I really loved is that I had no idea where the book was going, or what was going to happen. That's a refreshing change from most novels I read!

I have mixed feelings about this book. I had never read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, so I made a point to read it prior to reading O'Keefe's novel. Frankenstein's Monster picks up the tale of the monster where Shelley's book left off. To me, some of the most fascinating parts of Frankenstein were those told from the monster's perspective so it was quite interesting to have an entire novel from his point of view. O'Keefe's writing style was similar to Shelley's and there seemed to be a flow between the two novels that's rare for "sequels" written by a different author.

The biggest strength of the novel was the focus on the monster's character, and the exploration of what it means to be different from everyone else. His utter aloneness was sometimes heartbreaking, and his moments of tenderness towards those with whom he formed relationships were quite touching. There was a lot to like about this novel, but for me it took several wrong tones that detracted from the overall impact.

First, the same situation happened over and over again throughout the novel, with different players--monster meets someone, begins to feel accepted, then is somehow betrayed or insulted which triggers his rage. The author was making an important point about whether the monster was innately evil or whether the prejudiced response of humans triggered violent behavior, but I wish she'd trusted the reader enough to use a subtler approach rather than a repetitive one.

I also felt that the monster was somewhat inconsistent--his feelings toward particular people fluctuated so widely and wildly that the variations sometimes seemed artificial. Additionally, the author's choice to focus in closely on several graphically violent scenes was somewhat jarring. To clarify, I wasn't bothered by the violence so much as the repeated scenes of it; it felt like the author was throwing it in for shock value rather than in the interest of plot or character development, and for me, it detracted from what could have been a much richer exploration of the monster's character and experiences.

Overall, it was an interesting read and I'm glad that I read it, but I'm just not sure it lived up to its full potential.

The idea behind this book is brilliant--take the ending of the classic Frankenstein and continue the story. By adding a twist, O'Keefe has created a memorable new story. The book is told from the point of view of the monster (a.k.a Victor) as he writes in a journal. If Frankenstein (Victor) was made up of separate parts of the dead, then surely his most valued asset was his brain. He quotes famous poetry, writes with an elegant style, and has the amazing ability to communicate the most specific details. This point of view story telling really draws you in as the book becomes a thrilling page turner.

That is, until the middle of the book where Part 2 ends. The first half of the book had me glued--I read it every chance I had. After this half-way point, the book really slows down, the writing becomes deliberate, and the author takes too long to set up scenes in order to show the significance to Victor's mental state. Without revealing too much of the plot, the author drags Victor and Lily all the way to the Orkney Islands only to show a scene that feels like it lasts about 20 minutes (in which Victor learns and reveals more about his search for humanity).

This aside, the book overall is fantastic. The themes O'Keefe deals with are real and accurately written, despite its fantasy/gothic background. Victor must deal with his reality and the perception of himself through his eyes and through the eyes of those that see him. Some might even argue this is the typical battle many people go through during their teen and high school years. Although Victor is a physical anomaly, his mind is sharp as he quests for the definition of "man" and what makes us "human." In some ways, it is a quest most people go on without even realizing it--we do it everyday by simply living and experiencing life, while Victor must learn these virtues in small steps.

The other theme I found important is how "monsters" are created. I use this term loosely, as does the author, because each important character in the book does something "monsterous." How people become this way and the ramifications it represents is really at the core of this book. Walton, Winterbourne, and Lily are "monsters" in their own ways and are guilty of acts of "evil." From their point of view, the only monster is Victor because of his appearance--in fact, by the end of the book, what we really discover is how some souls can be corrupted (the three characters above) while other souls can be redeemed.

At the end of the book, O'Keefe has supplied the reader with 15 discussion questions. All of these are excellent, thought provoking questions, designed for discussions in a classroom or a book discussion group. I read each questions and answered them in my mind, proving that the book will leave a lasting impression and make you think about it long after you finish Victor's last journal entry.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. The themes, style, and story telling are top notch. Despite a slower second half, Victor's journey is worth experiencing simply because of how much it will make its readers contemplate their own humanity.

Susan Heyboer O'Keefe has taken Marry Shelley's hideous monster, a lump of mismatched parts, and infused him with a soul, his human-like spirit evolving through misadventure and the dogged cruelty of a man dedicated to his extermination, Robert Walton. The dying Frankenstein wrested a promise from his friend with his dying words, "swear to me that you will hunt down the creature and destroy it." There are certainly monsters afoot in this beautifully imagined story, but they are of human origin, twisted by passion and obsession. Seeking shelter from an indifferent, nay, hostile world, Frankenstein's monster embarks upon a bleak journey from a decaying Venice to the wild Orkney Islands and finally a Northumbrian coal mine, relentlessly pursued by Walton. From a tentative exploration of affection with a mute woman in Venice, the monster is tormented, Walton's singular mission to destroy his friend's foul creation. Spewing lies to impressionable villagers, Walton's forces his prey to flee.

As monster embraces humanity, his eager mind fed by books and brief encounters with those who tolerate his deformities, Walton proudly shoulders the burden of his task, filled with vengeance and a sort of divine madness, like a fanatical saint burning with the fervor of his hatred. Each small victory, a new place to sleep, the brief gift of friendship, is avidly destroyed, Walton become the monster's shadow, a terrible twin exacting retribution. In his grief, Frankenstein's creation turns to England with a plan to strike at Walton in kind, through the family her corresponds with regularly, a sister, Margaret Winterbourne, her husband and daughter, Lily, a beautiful sprite who flaunts convention, finding in the spontaneously named "Victor Hartmann" a formidable weapon against the restrictions of convention.

Dupe, fool, object of scorn and terror, "Victor" is swept into Lily's web, imagining one more chance to inhabit the world as other men but for the ugliness of his form. The half-mad Lily drives the next phase of the monster's journey, first to the wild country of the Orkney Islands, then to a Northumbrian coal mine, where a reckoning between foes becomes an epic battle waged in Hades, the cunning Walton filled with deadly fury after a mine collapses in the bowels of the earth. So human does this monster become, so anguished with the burden of his beginnings and the violent assemblage of his disparate parts, that it is impossible not to grant such a creature the grace of existence among men. True evil grows in the twisted pathways of a diseased mind, Shelley's monster an innocent born of Frankenstein's hubris, brutishly navigating a world of predators, until the realization, "I have been a monster of my own making. I will be a man of my own making instead." Luan Gaines/2010.

Gripping, compelling, and a page turner. Frankenstein's Monster has you at the edge wanting more and makes one ponder the question man or monster or perhaps a bit of both. It's monster wants to be loved but is also aware of it's hideousness and is torn between revenge and finding that 1 person who will accept him completely and love him as in Beauty and the Beast. Sometimes one has to look beyond the outer appearance to what's inside a person. I agree whole heartily with the review that suggests it should be made into a movie. Could not happen to a nicer person. Now go buy your copy(ies).

Overview:

First, let me say that this author did a wonderful job managing to cobble together two main emotions and themes and turn them into an entire story. Rarely do experienced novelists manage such a feat so successfully, let alone in their first major outing.

A. Plot
Set ten years after the events recounted in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", this first novel by Susan O'Keefe focuses on the life of Victor Frankenstein's monster after the creator has died. Free from his eponymous creator, the creation has acquired a new tormentor, Robert Walton. For the decade following the death of Victor Frankenstein, Walton has ceaselessly (if sometimes geographically confusedly) pursued a creature that he believes is of the devil. Walton's mad quest (pun intended) to rob the creature of his very existence is the topic of the majority of the book, as Frankenstein's Creation spends much of his time tormented, afraid, and miserable, as a consequence of the crazy man who has become obsessed with him.

B. Characters
There are three main characters in the book, but a constellation of other characters who are worthy of note. I will only recount the main characters, for the purposes of review brevity.

Victor Hartmann, the name begrudgingly taken by the creation of Victor Frankenstein is the main protagonist of this novel. After having seen his creator killed in his quest to destroy him, Victor Hartmann trudges, eventually, out of the Arctic, in search of companionship, acceptance, and warmth. In his quests, he finds none, as he is, time after time, turned away and attacked by those he approaches. In the long run, one can have little but sympathy for Victor Hartmann.

Robert Walton, conversely, is the main antagonist. If my Plot description makes him sound rather akin to Capt. Ahab, well, he is. Both are incorrigibly obsessed with the destruction of their enemies. And both do outrageous and even insane things in an attempt to destroy them. Walton's own depraved quest carries him around the globe, committing unspeakable acts upon the innocent, mainly due to his obvious insanity. I will pause here for a moment to make something clear, though. Walton is not from the school of "gibbering and talking to his hand" lunatics. Rather he is the more dangerous, and more sinister, group of people who suffer monomania and have the misguided perception that whatever they do is justified, so long as their obsession is fulfilled.

Lily Winterbourne, the daughter of Capt. Walton's sister Margaret, is the third major character, and perhaps the one with the most complex psyche. It never becomes clear what causes Lily's suffering, but she certainly does suffer from something. She is rarely a nice character, and never a likable one, per se, but even in her most off-putting moments, there is a fragility and a tenderness detectable inside of her that makes one want to rescue her.

C. Setting
The setting for the book ranges from the Arctic, to Italy, to England, and around the English Isle. It plays little of a role except as obstacle for Victor Hartmann, Lily Winterbourne, and Capt. Walton.

D. Themes
Love, loss, hate, obsession, misery, sorrow, confusion, and desperation. It's less about WHAT the themes are than how evocatively they were described in this book. The rage and sorrow of Victor Hartmann are plainly written but are emphatically shown in a fashion that makes anyone who has ever felt outcast by society (that's pretty much all of us, no?) immediately keen in their heart for this poor being. There are scenes in the book that are overwhelming in their beauty and tragic in their scope, both intimate and written large across all of our lives.

E. Point of View
The point of view is generally Victor's. In this fashion, we can ride along with his bewilderment about the rage and loathing that fill Walton, and others, upon discovering his nature. We can feel pity, and even empathy, at his being cast out, even if Susan O'Keefe has artificially (even if artfully) altered Victor Hartmann to make him a empathetic character. I believe that, while he could read in the original tale, he scarcely did so with the passion and conviction that he displays here.

F. Aesthetics
Wonderful.

Conclusion:

Buy this and read it. It is fantastic. A working knowledge of the original likely supports and enhances this story, but is not required for enjoyment (I, for example, have never read the original). This is certainly amongst my three favorite books published in 2010, and is far more worthy of a place on critics lists than many of the books that I've seen there.

I've long dreamed of writing a novel. A truly good piece of literature. This book is one example of such. And it is one that I will read again and again, and always find dazzling. Well done, Ms. O'Keefe. Truly. Well done.

A

Harkius

Imagine if you were given the task of writing the sequel to "Frankenstein", one of the all-time great classics. You'd want to do several things to make sure and get it right: 1) you would need to develop a great plot that is loyal to the original and is "necessary" in order for the book to have any value to the reader, 2) you would need to provide the right style of writing, the right "voice" so that it would meld well with the original, sounding much like Mary Shelley's voice, and 3) not have the whole thing sound too classic because you don't want today's readers to be bored...it would still need a fairly quick pace to keep the reader interested. On top of all of that you would still need to do all of the things that make for a good novel; i.e. great multi-dimensional characterization, interesting settings, involved plot, etc etc.

Sound impossible? Perhaps, but Susan Heyboer O'Keefe has done remarkably well in writing "Frankenstein's Monster". Especially when one considers this is her first effort for the adult market, having only published children's books before. I took a look at her website and found her to be a real hoot; I suppose you'd have to be in order to tackle this particular novel. Most of the book is told as diary entries from the monster himself. It takes place ten years after the end of the first novel but we learn everything about what happened after the first one ends. There is more than just plot and action here as the monster struggles with his very nature, trying to find his place in the world. He takes quite a journey as he is pursued by Walton who has vowed to his friend Victor Frankenstein to finish off the monster. Along the way he encounters several intriguing new characters and plenty of horrifying and desperate moments.

I felt like I was taking a chance when I began reading this one but feel very happy with the results. Highly recommended!

Fraught with tension, pulsing with suspense, Susan O'Keefe's debut novel Frankenstein's Monster, will have readers immobile from the moment they open this shocking story until they close the book utterly exhausted from sitting on the edge of their seat for the entire read. This brilliant author has given Dr. Frankenstein's monster a whole new life with her sequel to Mary Shelley's original story, and begins her tale right where Shelley left off with the monster leaping off Captain Walton's ship in the arctic after he mourns the death of his "father", Victor Frankenstein. Victor's deathbed wish was for Captain Walton to pursue his quest, and kill the beast.

Ten years later, with the monster hiding in the Vatican catacombs, he narrates his story informing the reader that he has spent the past decade on the run, hounded and hunted by Captain Walton. When he can sense his killer once again coming closer, he flees to Venice where he falls in with a woman who he rescues from a rape attempt. Falling in love with Mirabella who does not shy away from his wretched appearance, fate intervenes again to rob him of his gift as Walton attacks and shoots her instead of the monster. Walton has turned mad, insane with revenge against the death of Dr. Frankenstein, and no longer possesses his mind. While the monster once more slips through his grasp, he takes up the trail again as the monster is now rabid with fury at losing Mirabella. As events turn this monster from quiet man to maniac, Frankenstein's creation heads toward Walton's family home intent on murdering them all, as he did years earlier with Victor's father and sister when his promised bride was taken from him. However, fate turns the monster's macabre plan from a murder mystery into a love story when he finds Walton's beautiful niece Lily running with the hounds on a wind swept moor. She is a woman gone insane, but willingly accepts his patchwork face, and body made of many dead souls. Lily will have our monster's head spinning with so many conflicting emotions that he soon begins to believe that for once he can walk among the living as a true man, and not an abomination that has people running in fear. Becoming fugitives on the run as Walton furiously pursues them without relent, Lily and the monster who now names himself Victor Hartmann, engage in a frightening cat and mouse game that leaves the reader questioning who is the hunter and who is the hunted as the roles reverse and time runs out before the game is up and many secrets are revealed.

Philosophy of what it truly means to be human, to have the needs and wants of all men, play a large part in this deeply moving drama of passion and pain. Love, hate, tragedy and violence, and moments sweet & tender, all bring tears of joy & heartache to the reader as they travel into the mind of the monster. Readers witness the depth of his heart that bursts with frustration and fear, yet turns gentle and heartfelt as he experiences what being human truly means.

Although this novel has some frightening moments, it is by far not a horror novel. The depth of the soul O'Keefe gives the monster, the deep rivers of pain and the swelling of his generous heart that she implants in his quilted body, amazed me from page to page as my eyes were riveted for hours in astonishment that an author could so successfully bring an old story back to life without ruining Shelley's original masterpiece. A standing ovation for Susan Heyboer O'Keefe, she offers up an incredible piece of literature sure to hit the best-seller charts!