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In Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, we last see Dr Frankenstein's Creature shunned by human society and crossing the Arctic wasteland. What if he were rescued by an eccentric English expedition intent on sailing from pole to pole and back - only to be cast away again in a remote fiord in Aotearoa's deep south? This intriguing speculation ignites the novella that lies at the heart of Vincent O'Sullivan's electrifying new story collection
Mary's Boy, Jean-Jacques. Elsewhere, O'Sullivan takes us deep into other times and minds. Two siblings relive a sinister memory of their childhood, an isolated young man learns to walk around the city alone, a Victorian adventurer purchases a human head, and always there is memory, like 'Stonehenge from a choice of angles'. O'Sullivan's new stories are wry, humane, unsparing, essential.
About the author
Vincent O'Sullivan is the author of three acclaimed novels:
Let the River Stand,
Believers to the Bright Coast and
All This by Chance. He has written many plays and collections of short stories and poems, and several libretti.
Being Here: Selected Poems was published in 2015 and
Selected Stories in 2019; his most recent poetry collection is
Things OK With You? He was joint editor of the five-volume
Letters of Katherine Mansfield, and has edited a number of major anthologies. He is the author of
Long Journey to the Border: A Life of John Mulgan and
The Light Is Dark Enough: Ralph Hotere.
