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Carleton Reviews: Cleopatra & Frankenstein – an analysis of an unorthodox love story

The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Carleton chapter.

Trigger Warning: the book contains mentions of suicide.

It’s New Year’s Eve in New York. All it takes is one elevator ride. One conversation. One night. An instant connection.

“So, what was the best part of last year for you?” he asks.

“Gosh, let me think. Well, I switched to an antidepressant that actually allows me to achieve orgasm again. That feels like a win.”

“Wow. Okay. I was not expecting that. That’s great news.”

Instant sparks.

Summary of the Novel

Coco Mellor’s debut novel, Cleopatra and Frankenstein, follows Cleo and Frank’s marriage of impulsivity and self-discovery in New York City. 24-year-old Cleo is a starving artist from Britain in NYC for an MFA but had graduated and has moved on to freelance work. Her green card only allows her to stay for a few more months, but she’s not ready to leave. Frank is a self-made 45-year-old working in advertising and has no material shortage. At first glance, the two balance each other out. Their little bubble is nothing short of perfect.

In an Instagram live between bookstagramer, Jocelyn Aspa (@thelitficagenda), and Mellors, Mellors describes her novel as a love letter to New York, from a different perspective (still romanticizing and idealizing it). Mellors also reveals that the story takes place in 2006/7, before the market crashed and before people partied with camera phones. Consumed by a hedonistic spirit, each character was stuck in a limbo of living this fun, carefree life and living with the consequences of their choices.

Mellors details life’s complexities through her characters in such a way that you will be hard-pressed not to relate with them. And, as much as this is a story about being lost and lonely, it is equally about the process of clawing your way out of the darkness to find yourself.

Many love stories end in marriage. But this one begins with it.

Frank and Cleo meet in an elevator, both leaving a New Year’s Eve party. Neither one knows what they’re doing with their lives. But at that moment, they were just a man and a woman. And it was New Year’s. Cleo’s witty response about being able to finally orgasm again enticed Frank and he quickly realized how much he loved her.

“You really want to know all that about me?”

“’I want to know everything about you,’ he said, and was surprised to find he meant it.”

Just months after meeting, they get married and Cleo stays in New York.

It’s just the two of them at city hall, and the guy from a hotdog stand as a witness. Frank shows up in a three-piece suit dancing up the stairs with joy. Cleo, on the other hand, wears a white slip. She had never been the girl who dreamt of getting married.

“What is a wedding, Cleo wondered, if not a private dream made public, a fantasy suspended between two worlds like a cat’s cradle? But Cleo had never dreamt of getting married. What she fantasized about was getting her first solo show as an artist, a day dedicated solely to her.”

Mellors mentioned that the book took four years to write. Over those years, she would often hit a wall and need to switch up the narrative. She would introduce a new character, writing the chapter from their perspective. She also included little anecdotes from her lived experience for some characters.

As social creatures, we rely on others to survive. Mellors creates “complex” characters to “keep it interesting” and to add “new perspectives.” Each character existing outside Cleo and Frank’s bubble reminds them that there is a whole other world outside their relationship, including the friends, family, and colleagues who are dependent on them too. These include to a lonely, gay, addict, Quentin, who happens to be Cleo’s best friend. Frank’s 18-year-old sister, Zoe. Cleo’s parents. Frank’s grown-up friends. And Eleanor. As much as they want to live the perfect life in their perfect bubble in the perfect city, life has other plans for them.

But what happens when reality pops their perfect, little, marriage bubble?

Subconsciously, they both knew early on that the other was deeply unhappy.

“When the darkest part of you meets the darkest part of me, it creates light.”

-Frank’s vow on their wedding day

They lived comfortably but slowly grew distant. The more distant they grew, the dimmer the light became, until it was all darkness again.

By this point, Frank would come home late – drunk. It was the only thing he could do to numb himself.

“Frank was watching himself as if he was not himself. He felt gruesome and powerful all at once. He had never been allowed to feel anything. Now, the anger blanketed all other feelings. There was no shame, no remorse, no tenderness. He felt protected and untouchable. He felt drunk.”

Cleo fell into a deep depression and couldn’t even sort her chaos onto a canvas anymore.

It became too much. They had been treading water in the middle of the ocean alone for too long. So, they gave up.

It was an instant spark. On New Year’s Eve. In the most magical city in the world. But sparks don’t stay lit forever. So, they had to let each other go. They had to learn how to rekindle the spark within themselves, alone.

Summer Sparklers Fireworks Bonfire
Anna Thetard / Her Campus

How does one find themselves while simultaneously numbing themselves? This is a story about hurt and baggage and navigating that in a world that constantly tells you to keep pushing forward. To be silent. But where does that get you? Mellors writes about the messy parts of relationships. She writes that regardless of how much you keep to yourselves, there is still a community of people involved in a relationship, too.

My Thoughts

I loved this book because it reminded me how unattainable perfection is. All the trials and tribulations that each character goes through remind the reader of the importance of community and checking in with people. Life is not what it appears to be, and no one is perfect. It’s not too much effort to ask someone how they’re doing. To show them kindness. To remind them that they are important – because they are.

This book was here to end 2022 and begin 2023 with me. Life has been incredibly difficult for numerous reasons over the past several years. It was such a privilege to read such a well-crafted story about going through immense suffering and coming out on the other end as a changed person. Frank and Cleo on New Year’s Eve are not the same as Frank and Cleo on their wedding day. They aren’t the same after one year of marriage, and they certainly aren’t the same when they divorce.

This book is organized into a timeline. Each chapter follows a specific relationship while progressing chronologically. It highlights, both, the mundane aspects of their day-to-day, and also the crucial moments of each character’s lives and relationships with each other. By doing this, Mellors is able to show the complexity of each character and highlight that they are not defined by their suffering, but rather by what they do with it.

Further, she demonstrates how quickly time goes. One chapter is January and then suddenly it’s August. In the same way, time also progresses incredibly slowly, where one month is divided into several chapters. This really resonated for me because some days it feels like I’m just starting grade seven (this was seven years ago). On other days, I feel like I’m staring at the timer on the microwave which drags on for an eternity.

This book brought up so many emotions, but it was mostly there to help me move on with my life, and for that, I am incredibly grateful. 2022 was left in 2022, whereas 2023 is right now, and I am here in it.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein is truly one of the most beautiful love stories I’ve ever read.

“Their first meeting was so unique and so authentic. It’s not going to end well, but you hope that it will,” Aspa discloses. “[It’s a] love story that doesn’t end happily. But it does in a way because you find yourself. It’s deeper.”

This story focuses on finding yourself. It’s a love story because, in the end, they learn how to be honest with themselves. To prioritize themselves. And most importantly, to love themselves. And they couldn’t have done that without each other, too.

Hannah is a first year Journalism and Humanities major. She is passionate about Queer culture and everything coffee-related. You can either find her at a coffee shop writing her next article, making coffee for a group, or with her head stuck in a book.