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The Bride
"He created an obsession he couldn't control."
Baron Frankenstein, a brilliant but unorthodox young scientist, creates an exquisitely beautiful female counterpart for his male creature.
Baron Frankenstein, a brilliant but unorthodox young scientist, creates an exquisitely beautiful female counterpart for his male creature.
- GenresHorror
221 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1985
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83 people want to read
About the author
Vonda N. McIntyre
159 books371 followersVonda Neel McIntyre was a U.S. science fiction author. She was one of the first successful graduates of the Clarion Science fiction writers workshop. She attended the workshop in 1970. By 1973 she had won her first Nebula Award, for the novelette "Of Mist, and Grass and Sand." This later became part of the novel Dreamsnake, which won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. The novelette and novel both concern a female healer in a desolate primitivized venue. McIntyre's debut novel was The Exile Waiting which was published in 1975. Her novel Dreamsnake won the Nebula Award and Hugo Award for best novel in 1978 and her novel The Moon and the Sun won the Nebula in 1997. She has also written a number of Star Trek and Star Wars novels, including Enterprise: The First Adventure and The Entropy Effect. She wrote the novelizations of the films Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 2, 2013
The Bride is rather straightforward SF/victorian fiction/steampunk (not really sure how to classify it since it technically dates from before the invention of steampunk) with a feminist twist. It's particularly well-written, however, and its feminist developments are quite thought-provoking.
The film The Bride of Frankenstein picked up a secondary plot from the book Frankenstein and turned it into a sequel of the original Frankenstein movie. McIntyre"s The Bride picks up where the Bride moveie left off. Instead of having everyone die in the fire that follows the creation of the Bride and her subsequent rejection of Frankenstein creature, McIntyre imagines that the creature managed to run away on its own, and that Frankenstein escaped the fire with the Bride, who he intends to teach everything about life, Pygmalion-style. The two plot threads diverge from here, and the book follows the story of the runaway creature, as well as the story of the Bride, renamed Eva, who becomes Frankenstein's protégée.
Both stories are told in an extremely sensitive, interesting way. Frankenstein wants to turn Eva into an exceptional woman and claims that she can become a great intellectual even though she's female, but soon starts to struggle with his own conception of what a "proper" woman should act like. The creature meets a new companion on the road, and learns about friendship and humanity. The premise of the novel is a feminist pamphlet; in the end, however, the narrative explores what it means to be human, and how gender as well as physical differences can affect human experiences. The characters, even minor ones, are well-defined, yet very complex. There are a few villains, but the reader is encouraged to read the story with a compassionate mindset, instead of merely pointing the finger towards the bad guys.
A couple of things are a bit naive: Eva's innocence, and the fact that she systematically questions society's assumptions about women's place, sounds like a convenient plot device. At times, the novels is a bit closer to an educational pamphlet than I'd prefer. Nonetheless, it does make its point with subtlety. And it's written in McIntyre's usual beautiful style. Judging from the tiny number of reviews on this website, I'd say that The Bride has been unjustly forgotten.
The film The Bride of Frankenstein picked up a secondary plot from the book Frankenstein and turned it into a sequel of the original Frankenstein movie. McIntyre"s The Bride picks up where the Bride moveie left off. Instead of having everyone die in the fire that follows the creation of the Bride and her subsequent rejection of Frankenstein creature, McIntyre imagines that the creature managed to run away on its own, and that Frankenstein escaped the fire with the Bride, who he intends to teach everything about life, Pygmalion-style. The two plot threads diverge from here, and the book follows the story of the runaway creature, as well as the story of the Bride, renamed Eva, who becomes Frankenstein's protégée.
Both stories are told in an extremely sensitive, interesting way. Frankenstein wants to turn Eva into an exceptional woman and claims that she can become a great intellectual even though she's female, but soon starts to struggle with his own conception of what a "proper" woman should act like. The creature meets a new companion on the road, and learns about friendship and humanity. The premise of the novel is a feminist pamphlet; in the end, however, the narrative explores what it means to be human, and how gender as well as physical differences can affect human experiences. The characters, even minor ones, are well-defined, yet very complex. There are a few villains, but the reader is encouraged to read the story with a compassionate mindset, instead of merely pointing the finger towards the bad guys.
A couple of things are a bit naive: Eva's innocence, and the fact that she systematically questions society's assumptions about women's place, sounds like a convenient plot device. At times, the novels is a bit closer to an educational pamphlet than I'd prefer. Nonetheless, it does make its point with subtlety. And it's written in McIntyre's usual beautiful style. Judging from the tiny number of reviews on this website, I'd say that The Bride has been unjustly forgotten.
September 6, 2016
3 1/2 stars.
July 31, 2010
Another movie tie in. Only McIntyre's skill makes these worth reading.
January 6, 2024
Film tie-in novelisations are not my usual reading matter but this was written by Vonda N McIntyre, whose back catalogue I have been trying to catch up with.
The premise is that Charles Frankenstein has promised to create a companion for his creature – a female companion. The book begins on the night when Frankenstein and his assistant await the arrival of the electrical storm which will animate her. She is of course beautiful, her only flaw a slight discolouration at the wrists. She is brought to life ignorant of the world and its ways. When introduced to Frankenstein’s earlier creation she instinctively shies from it though. (I shrink from that ‘it’. The “monster” is never less than a creature worthy of sympathy - even empathy.) The creature is angered but not totally surprised by this. He is used to being reviled.
It is here that McIntyre made an authorial decision which elevates the narrative above where it might have lain. Most of the text is related in third person (this is of course how a viewer experiences cinema) but the creature’s thoughts are given to us in his first-person viewpoint. That night, the creature’s rage results in a fire in Frankenstein’s castle and the creature resolves to flee. Later in the book, once he has taken up with a dwarf called Rinaldo, with whom he forms an effective pair, Rinaldo decides to call him Viktor. (I also wondered why, here, Frankenstein the creator had been given the name Charles rather than Victor.)
Charles calls his new ward Eva, after the biblical first woman, and sets out to educate her, not only in the normal sense but in the ways of society. She at first scandalises the housekeeper Mrs Baumann by her feral habits, especially where food is concerned, but soon more considerate behaviour becomes her hallmark. She notices the different attitude Charles has to her and his social equals as compared to the servants and takes one of them, Hannah, from the kitchen to be her personal maid. She is also confused by the manners and customs of Charles’s acquaintances.
In the meantime after various ignominies suffered on the road, Viktor and Rinaldo become a great success as a circus act (Rinaldo is particularly adept on the trapeze.) This leads to jealousy on the part of the circus owner and his chief employee and a tragedy, whereupon Viktor is left to his own resources again.
Gradually Eva becomes aware that the tale Charles told her of her origin is false and she seeks to find her true self elsewhere. He has of course come to consider she is his alone and is unwilling to let her go.
This all written in a much better way than the rather corny premise itself merits. Not great literature but enjoyable enough.
The premise is that Charles Frankenstein has promised to create a companion for his creature – a female companion. The book begins on the night when Frankenstein and his assistant await the arrival of the electrical storm which will animate her. She is of course beautiful, her only flaw a slight discolouration at the wrists. She is brought to life ignorant of the world and its ways. When introduced to Frankenstein’s earlier creation she instinctively shies from it though. (I shrink from that ‘it’. The “monster” is never less than a creature worthy of sympathy - even empathy.) The creature is angered but not totally surprised by this. He is used to being reviled.
It is here that McIntyre made an authorial decision which elevates the narrative above where it might have lain. Most of the text is related in third person (this is of course how a viewer experiences cinema) but the creature’s thoughts are given to us in his first-person viewpoint. That night, the creature’s rage results in a fire in Frankenstein’s castle and the creature resolves to flee. Later in the book, once he has taken up with a dwarf called Rinaldo, with whom he forms an effective pair, Rinaldo decides to call him Viktor. (I also wondered why, here, Frankenstein the creator had been given the name Charles rather than Victor.)
Charles calls his new ward Eva, after the biblical first woman, and sets out to educate her, not only in the normal sense but in the ways of society. She at first scandalises the housekeeper Mrs Baumann by her feral habits, especially where food is concerned, but soon more considerate behaviour becomes her hallmark. She notices the different attitude Charles has to her and his social equals as compared to the servants and takes one of them, Hannah, from the kitchen to be her personal maid. She is also confused by the manners and customs of Charles’s acquaintances.
In the meantime after various ignominies suffered on the road, Viktor and Rinaldo become a great success as a circus act (Rinaldo is particularly adept on the trapeze.) This leads to jealousy on the part of the circus owner and his chief employee and a tragedy, whereupon Viktor is left to his own resources again.
Gradually Eva becomes aware that the tale Charles told her of her origin is false and she seeks to find her true self elsewhere. He has of course come to consider she is his alone and is unwilling to let her go.
This all written in a much better way than the rather corny premise itself merits. Not great literature but enjoyable enough.
June 30, 2018
Received as a used book subscription. Was really hard to get into and finish. Moved so extremely slow.
Want to read
December 12, 2012seen the movie
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews