Cleopatra and Frankenstein

By: Coco Mellors

Narrated by: Kit Griffiths

Bloomsbury presents Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors, read by Kit Griffiths.

The smash-hit national bestseller and Goodreads Choice Award finalist from the New York Times bestselling author of Blue Sisters. An addictive, humorous, and poignant debut novel about the shock waves caused by one couple’s impulsive marriage.

Twenty-four-year-old British painter Cleo has escaped from England to New York and is still finding her place in the sleepless city when, a few months before her student visa ends, she meets Frank. Twenty years older and a self-made success, Frank’s life is full of all the excesses Cleo’s lacks. He offers her the chance to be happy, the freedom to paint, and the opportunity to apply for a Green Card. But their impulsive marriage irreversibly changes both their lives, and the lives of those close to them, in ways they never could’ve predicted.

Each compulsively readable chapter explores the lives of Cleo, Frank, and an unforgettable cast of their closest friends and family as they grow up and grow older. Whether it’s Cleo’s best friend struggling to embrace his gender queerness in the wake of Cleo’s marriage, or Frank’s financially dependent sister arranging sugar daddy dates to support herself after being cut off, or Cleo and Frank themselves as they discover the trials of marriage and mental illness, each character is as absorbing, and painfully relatable, as the last.

As hilarious as it is heartbreaking, entertaining as it is deeply moving, Cleopatra and Frankenstein marks the entry of a brilliant and bold new talent.©2022 Coco Mellors (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

a train wreck you can't look away from

some of the best written characters ever. worst people I have ever known, but marvelously written. I was so glad when it was over.

Shocking at times, but beautifully told.

Loved the themes, always enjoy underlying bird references. Interesting expose on gen z in NYC, if only a small sliver of the generation with notable privilege. Covered a lot of ground, no perfect ending, but reflective and funny.

The reader really embraced the different characters

I really enjoyed this book. The story was beautifully told and really kept my interest.

Favorite book of 2022 so far

The narration was phenomenal!


I loved this book. The type of book that I didn’t want to finish. The type of book I took my time with because I knew I would miss the characters. The highly relatable, highly dysfunctional, openly human characters.

This is a book about relating, in all aspects. A book about relationships and the secret innuendos, the nuances that come with relating - the secret lives, that two people live together when no one else is watching. The intimacies, the disappointments, the violences, the betrayals, the joint vices, the affections, the sex. The painful things we endure together, as units + the growth we endure. Painted with vivid imagery. Coco Mellors is an inspiration.

I held this book close to my heart. The act of relating is the most human thing we’ve got and so is making art about it, so this is quickly how I fell in love Cleopatra and Frankenstein

Topical. And entertaining

Mostly liked it , I would have enjoyed deeper ideas. Very well written descriptions. Rich kids with substance abuse and and act like victims.