Book Review: Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
As I struggle to get out of my reading slump I am happy to say that I finished the book I bought to accomplish this task, Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors. Now I will review it! Spoiler warning as I’ll talk about several plot points.
I had a lot of thoughts while reading this, and scrolled through some other reviews to see if people felt the same way. I was definitely relieved to see that most of my main gripes with the story were also expressed by other people. I think my biggest issue with the story overall was the characters. I oddly found it very cliche. There is the beautiful artist Cleo who does drugs and sleeps with older men, and then the 40-year-old Frankl with the drinking problem who she falls for. I found it difficult to empathize with them and their problems, and that caused a definite disconnect for the rest of the story.
I think the biggest weakness of this novel was the lack of time spent building up the main romantic connection. The opening chapter is their first meeting, they flirt and walk around and their dialogue is painfully unrealistic and faux-charismatic. It can be argued that this is purposeful for two characters that are running from their problems and playing up roles, but I still found it frustrating. The two flirt and talk about going to Mexico City together, and then the next chapter is their wedding. This is about a 6 month time gap. This is explained as Cleo is British and her Visa is expiring. With this fact hanging over her head, their marriage is called into question by both her friends and the reader.
The immediate chapter following their wedding then follows Cleo’s friend Quentin. So, the reader is pulled from their meeting, to their wedding, then to a side character. There is a serious lack of time spent with the two main leads within the first few chapters. The following chapter then begins to introduce the problems between them, including Frank’s drinking problem. The reader is primed for this romance to fail, and there are no stakes. I found myself very apathetic at the inevitable divorce, and, oddly, so did the main characters. Even one chapter at the beginning of the novel depicting their romantic connection beyond the first meeting would have strengthened the story in my eyes. I read that this story was comparable to Normal People by Sally Rooney, and I found that to be false. The difference between these failed romances is that Rooney spends time connecting you to the relationship between her characters, she makes you root for and against them all at once. My only thought throughout this whole story was that I wanted it to fail.
There is a chapter that briefly shows the two having marital difficulties on their honeymoon, and then a 30-page interlude following a new character written in first person. This new character, Eleanor, slowly falls in love with Frank throughout her first person chapter, and he falls for her. The chapter immediately following this involves Frank discussing Cleo’s unhappiness within their relationship. I remember reading this, and immediately just being shocked by how quickly this relationship dissolves. The time gaps also do not help as we spend so much time with Eleanor and return to Frank and Cleo MONTHS later, jumping from early September to January. This is an incredible jump in time that is NOT spent with the main characters.
This is where the disconnect comes from. The multiple perspectives are interesting from a narrative perspective, but I begin to lose focus on the main couple at the center of the story. If the focus is not intended to be on the couple, then that needs to be more obvious, particularly in regards to the ending. The different perspectives leave me minorly interested in the supporting characters' struggles and stories, but then the ending concludes with focus on Cleo and Frank. If the focus is NOT meant to be solely on them, then the ending should conclude some of the other stories woven throughout. The constant jumping around of narration made it incredibly difficult to empathize with anyone, as I never really managed to spend significant time with ANYONE.
Beyond this, I feel that there is a great show-don’t-tell problem throughout the narrative. I feel like I am told a lot of things about the characters' lives and problems. Their family issues loom less in the background, and more so at the forefront of their thoughts. The characters spend so much time wallowing and thinking about their problems. Perhaps a flashback scene could’ve been helpful rather than this jumping narration? Focusing on the main characters, and using these interludes between chapters to show some of the events that shaped their lives would have expanded the story.
I found that I never really understood why a character did anything. I particularly didn’t understand what made Frank seek that outward companionship in Eleanor, mainly because we are told through her eyes, and then told Cleo is unhappy. I am being told so many things, but I want to SEE this relationship breakdown. I want to experience this falling for Eleanor from the perspective of Frank, because otherwise I don’t understand what happened between him and Cleo. The relationship between them inevitably ends in a huge fight, which I don’t think the narrative earns. I want to see the previous fights. I want to see the fight about the sugar glider Frank drunkenly kills. I don’t want to be told all of this, and to then receive one final fight because it doesn’t hold any weight with me. I knew it was coming, and I didn’t even really get to see the build up to it. So, I ended up feeling frustrated.
On a positive note, I liked the style of prose. It kept me interested to read; there were several poignant lines and interesting descriptive sentences. While I complained about the lack of time with every character, I did still find my interest piqued by all of them; the stories were all interestingly written. The characters were certainly diverse, and it was interesting to me that many of them did not originate from the USA, making their group a sort of mix of immigrants besides Frank. I thought this would have more significance than just being a background detail I noticed, but it didn’t.
Overall, I would rate the story a 3 out of 5. While I have a lot of issues with the narrative and plot, I also really enjoyed reading it and found it interesting. I definitely think it’s worth reading because lots of people really connected with the novel, I just didn’t happen to be one of them. So, I definitely think it’s worth giving it a shot and seeing if you like it. My next read is currently going to be A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher. I scoured Waterstones for a good female written horror novel, and this was what ended up catching my eye. My only aim was to find a book that would scare me, so I’m hopeful about this. So, hopefully, my next review will be that. My friend and I are also doing a little book club between us, so if she finishes Cleopatra and Frankenstein we’ll pick a second book to read. So, we’ll see which I finish first.
