Mary Shelley birth anniversary: Books that reimagine her work 'Frankenstein'

Mary Shelley was 18 years old when she wrote her most celebrated classic Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus The story was written in 1816 as part of a friendly competition between PB Shelley Lord Byron John William Polidori and her It led to a major shift in the genre of Gothic fiction directing the focus to the extremities of human desireRichard Rothwellrsquos portrait of Mary Shelley PIC COURTESYWIKIMEDIA COMMONSFrankenstein has carved a niche for itself in pop culture Apart from several film adaptations like the 1994 Mary Shelleyrsquos Frankenstein Tim Burtonrsquos 1984 Frankenweenie and Charles Burtonrsquos horror comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein the doctor and his monster have made cameo appearances on TV as well In The Addams Family the character of Lurch resembles the monster Sesame Street Scooby Doo The Simpsons and Power Rangers have had episodes inspired by the narrativeOn her birth anniversary today we pick books that have reimagined the classic in interesting ways1 Frankenstein in Baghdad Ahmed Saadawirsquos Man Booker International Prize shortlisted title is a retelling of the narrative in the wartorn city of Baghdad The period after the US invasion of Iraq forms the background for the book Hadi collects whatrsquos left behind by the victims from the streets and one day finds the body of a man Having found it in a wretched state with a disfigured nose he brings it home to lsquocomplete itrsquo and give it a lsquoproper burialrsquo To Hadirsquos shock the body takes on a life of its own meanwhile killings of the criminals are being reported in the cityBoris Karloff as Frankensteinrsquos monster in a film adaptation2 Poor Things Alasdair Gray reimagines the classic through the story of Archibald McCandless a Scottish public health officer and Bella Baxter the 25yearold woman created by his colleague Dr Godwin Baxter She is stitched together from the body of a pregnant young woman found unclaimed at the Clyde Basin and possesses the brain of a child The book begins in the 1970s when a series of discarded letters surface in Glasgow and moves on to tracing Bellarsquos journey of selfdiscovery detached from her creator3 Spare and Found Parts Sarah Maria Griffinrsquos YA novel is set in a futuristic world where Nell StarlingCrane a girl with a clockwork heart sets out to create a companion for herself The fictitious Black Water City in Ireland where she lives has seen a shattering machinegenerated epidemic with survivors missing body parts This has led to a ban on computers from the city Does she find a way around it and build an android friend for herself The book is inspired by Frankenstein However unlike Victor Frankenstein Nellrsquos curiosity derives partly from her loneliness and partly from the pressure of her grandmother who wants her to leave a legacy behind4 Pride and Prometheus This one is for Jane Austen and Mary Shelley fans John Kesselrsquos book is a collision of the worlds of two writers from the Romantic period with contrasting sensibilities mdash Austenrsquos Pride and Prejudice and Shelleyrsquos Frankenstein Mary Bennett the middle Bennet sister is the protagonist who meets the scientist Victor Frankenstein at a dance ball He is in the midst of his experiments and later is threatened by his secretly created monster to fulfil his promise of creating a female companion for him Kessel adds maturity to Mary Bennettrsquos now older and evolved version from Austenrsquos younger Mary who ldquoread great books and made extractsrdquoAvailable At leading bookstores and estoresAlso Read Coco Chanel birth anniversary Heres a look at her famous contributions to fashion