The Boston Athenæum is pleased to welcome Mackenzie Lee, author of the YA Novel, This Monstrous Thing. A wildly creative Gothic fantasy retelling of Frankenstein, This Monstrous Thing is a wholly new re-imagining of the classic novel by Mary Shelley. In an alternative fantasy world where some men are made from clockwork parts and carriages are steam powered, Alasdair Finch, a young mechanic, does the unthinkable after his brother dies: he uses clockwork pieces to bring Oliver back from the dead. But the resurrection does not go as planned and Oliver returns more monster than man. Even worse, the novel Frankenstein is published and the townsfolk are determined to find the real-life doctor and his monster. With few places to turn for help, the dangers may ultimately bring the brothers together—or ruin them forever.
Lee will speak about her book This Monstrous Thing, as well as some of the literary research she did about Mary Shelley and Frankenstein.
Mackenzi Lee is a reader, writer, and bookseller. She holds an MFA from Simmons College in writing for children and young adults, and her short fiction for children and teens has appeared in Inaccurate Realities, The Friend,and The Newport Review. Her young adult historical fantasy novel, This Monstrous Thing, which won the PEN-New England Susan P. Bloom Children’s Book Discovery Award, as well as an Emerging Artist Grant from the St. Botolph Club Foundation, is out now from Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins.
Registration begins October 14 at 9 am
Members $8 and Non-members $12