Cleopatra and Frankenstein: ‘Move over Sally Rooney: this is the hottest new book’ - Sunday Times

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Whether it's Cleo's best friend struggling to embrace his gender queerness in the wake of Cleo's marriage, or Frank's financially dependent sister arranging sugar daddy dates to support herself after being cut off, or Cleo and Frank themselves as they discover the trials of marriage and mental illness, each character is as absorbing, and painfully relatable, as the last. The effects of their marriage reverberate out into the lives of their family and friends: Zoe, Frank's ambitious half-sister; Quentin, Cleo's best friend grappling with his sexuality; Eleanor, a new hire at Frank's office; and more. cleo and frank’s relationship is the strand which runs through everyone else’s lives, their tumultuous up and downs bleeding into the lives of their circle of friends and family. I've noticed this book has been heavily and exhaustingly compared to Sally Rooney, which I think is irrelevant and definitely not something you should let influence your decision to read or not read the book.

Mellors does not have the writing skill nor does she have the ability to capture certain aspects of life that Rooney can so naturally do. It reshapes their lives and the lives of those around them, whether that’s Cleo’s best friend struggling to embrace his gender identity in the wake of her marriage, or Frank’s financially dependent sister arranging sugar daddy dates after being cut off. It reshapes their lives and the lives of those around them, whether that’s Cleo's best friend struggling to embrace his gender identity in the wake of her marriage, or Frank's financially dependent sister arranging sugar daddy dates after being cut off. But none of them really matter very much, somewhat because all of them are supposed to be complicated and hard to like, but mostly because the greatest character of my reading life is in these pages.

There is only one novel this reminded me of, and that’s Elizabeth Gilbert’s City of Girls which portrayed New York in the 1940’s. But it brings all the stuff that irks me about Rooney— hipster millennials having endless navel-gazing pseudo-intellectual conversations about themselves and the universe —and misses out the key component that, for me, makes Rooney as engaging an author as she is irritating.

Yes, Mellors’ novel was an instant success, branded ‘hottest book of the year’ by Stylist and an instant Sunday Times Bestseller, which makes it hard to believe that this is in fact her first published novel. A tender, devastating and funny exploration of love and friendship and the yearning for self-evisceration. Eleanor, the character which filled the least amount of chapters in this book, was probably the most likeable, and dare I say original.It reshapes their lives and the lives of those around them, whether that's Cleo's best friend struggling to embrace his gender identity in the wake of her marriage, or Frank's financially dependent sister arranging sugar daddy dates after being cut off. It is thrilling to read a book that articles with nuance and compassion the way gender impacts every part of our lives. And all of the side characters serve to hammer home the book's whole point about how a relationship can affect those around the couple. Twenty-four-year-old British painter Cleo has escaped from England to New York and is still finding her place in the sleepless city when, a few months before her student visa ends, she meets Frank. the first pages suck you in with it’s witty and perfectly romantic start… but then… oh jesus… it does crumble hard.

I actually admire Mellors’ decision to make the central female character, Cleo, the less likeable female – it goes against the grain and subverts most stereotypes.

But I guess if you want to read about a variety of characters and how they relate to Cleo and Frank while delving into the shallowest waters imaginable, pick this one up. There isn't much of a plot to speak of, beyond the shifting dynamics and relationships built between them, namely Cleo and Frank, a semi-green-card marriage built mostly on passion and age difference, and those around them: Frank's younger half-sister, Zoë; Frank's friends, Anders, and another more boring and half-hearted inclusion whose name I don't remember; Cleo's best friend Quentin; Zoë's best friend Audrey; and finally, ELEANOR.

I started off quite enjoying the vibe of this (because that’s all it’s really offering is a vibe) but I’ve never read a book that is more up itself.Cleopatra and Frankenstein is an astounding and painfully relatable debut novel about the spontaneous decisions that shape our entire lives and those imperfect relationships born of unexpectedly perfect evenings.