BOOK DEAL: Eynhallow
We are extremely pleased to announce that we have signed Tim McGregor’s historical horror novel EYNHALLOW for release early next year. “Of course it’s fantastic to be working with Tim on another project because our collaboration on Wasps in the Ice Cream this year went so well, but I’m especially excited about this novel,” says acquiring editor Jennifer Barnes. “McGregor has fleshed out a part of the tale of Doctor Frankenstein that I think we’re all curious about, how the bride came to be, and he’s done it with his trademark bittersweet insight into the human condition.”
Inspiration for EYNHALLOW
Who was the Bride of Frankenstein, the creature intended to be the mate of Frankenstein’s monster? Strangely, Mary Shelley gives us no clues to her identity. Forced to comply with the Creature’s demands for a mate, Victor Frankenstein travels to a sparsely populated island in the Orkneys to repeat his experiment and create a female creature. However, unlike his first creation, here there is no mention of grave robbing or collecting body parts. He simply gets to work. So who was she? Where did Frankenstein find the raw material to create her?
Author Tim McGregor comments, “At first I thought this was an oversight on the author’s part, but now I think Mary intentionally left a little mystery for readers (and nosy writers) to ponder and speculate. James Whale provided us with one idea in his 1935 classic film, The Bride of Frankenstein. My answer became a little story called Eynhallow.”
Book Description
ORKNEY ISLANDS, 1797 – Agnes Tulloch feels a little cheated. This windswept place is not the island paradise her husband promised it to be when they wed. Now with four young children, she struggles to provide for her family while her husband grows increasingly distant.
When a stranger comes ashore to rent an abandoned cottage, Agnes and the other islanders are abuzz with curiosity. Who is this wealthy foreigner and why on earth would he come to Eynhallow? Her curiosity is soon replaced with vexation when her husband hires her out as cook and washerwoman, leaving Agnes with no say in the matter. Agnes begrudgingly befriends this aristocrat-in-exile; a mercurial scientist who toils night and day on some secret pursuit. Despite her better judgement, she finds herself drawn to his dark, brooding charm. And who is this Byronic stranger sweeping Agnes off her feet? His name is Frankenstein and he’s come to this remote isle to fulfill a monstrous obligation.
About the Author
Tim McGregor is the author of Wasps in the Ice Cream, Taboo in Four Colors, the Shirley Jackson Award-nominated Lure, and Hearts Strange and Dreadful. A former screenwriter and current HWA member, Tim lives in Toronto with his wife, two kids, and one spiteful ghost. He can be reached at timmcgregorauthor.com.
