Unfashioned Creatures

Mary Shelley's childhood friend battles madness and murderous desires in this novel from the author of Clairmont...

London, 1823.

Mary Shelley's real-life friend Isabella Baxter Booth is 'disturbed in her reason' - seeing ghosts and dependent on narcotics to escape a hellish life with an increasingly violent, deranged husband.

Fearful of her own murderous impulses towards him, Isabella flees for her childhood home in Scotland, where she meets an ambitious young doctor, Alexander Balfour. He will stop at nothing to establish a reputation as a genius in the emerging science of psychiatry and he believes that Isabella could be the key to his greatness.

But as his own torments threaten to overwhelm Alexander, is he really the best judge of which way madness lies?

Order Now!

About the Book

What They Said

‘Unfashioned Creatures is a finely worked and confident flight of Gothic fancy that stands up well to scrutiny in our cynical, self-analytical age. McDowell’s ear for dialogue is already finely tuned, and her handling of the contrasting narratives deftly judged’ The Scotsman

‘A highly intelligent historical exploration of madness and our attitudes to it (and) a compelling account of the developing relationship between a psychiatrist and a patient… McDowell’s prose is dense but sharp, charged with urgency by her deep interest in her subject…her passion for it in this novel is infectious’ The Herald

‘A Gothic novel full of madness, ghosts and murderous desires. Monstrously good’ Louise Welsh

Details

ASIN: B00F0L12XS
ISBN: 9781908643391

Order Now

Preview

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."