What do you think?
Rate this book
The Glowing Hours
A mind-bending, revisionist gothic horror story about the fabled summer Mary Shelley began work on Frankenstein, as told by her Indian housemaid, Mehrunissa “Mehr” Begum. For fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Isabel Cañas, and Kathe Koja.
“Strange how one can find they are an interruption in another person’s story . . .”
Summer 1816: London is a hostile place for the newly disembarked Mehrunissa Begum, who’s come to deliver her brother’s letter of inheritance before returning to her comfortable life in Lucknow, India. Only, she can’t find her brother anywhere and has no money for the return trip. With nowhere else to go, Mehr finds refuge in a boardinghouse for Indian maids. If she can’t find her brother, she reasons, she will get a job and start saving.
Mehr is soon hired at the English estate of Mary and Percy Shelley, young artists of burgeoning fame who are on the run from secrets of their own. Mary is brooding and quiet, but takes a curious liking to her new maid, asking her to accompany the Shelleys and her stepsister, Claire—as well as the eccentric Lord Byron and his physician, John Polidori—to Lake Geneva for the summer.
Almost immediately, Mehr notices strange, ghostly events at the villa. The walls breathe, portraits shift, and phantoms appear like unbidden guests who refuse to leave. The weather is fierce and foreboding, showing no signs of softening its relentless pall. And as Mary Shelley begins work on what will become her earth-shattering literary phenomenon, Mehr finds herself trapped in the villa as the rest of its inhabitants descend into madness.
“Strange how one can find they are an interruption in another person’s story . . .”
Summer 1816: London is a hostile place for the newly disembarked Mehrunissa Begum, who’s come to deliver her brother’s letter of inheritance before returning to her comfortable life in Lucknow, India. Only, she can’t find her brother anywhere and has no money for the return trip. With nowhere else to go, Mehr finds refuge in a boardinghouse for Indian maids. If she can’t find her brother, she reasons, she will get a job and start saving.
Mehr is soon hired at the English estate of Mary and Percy Shelley, young artists of burgeoning fame who are on the run from secrets of their own. Mary is brooding and quiet, but takes a curious liking to her new maid, asking her to accompany the Shelleys and her stepsister, Claire—as well as the eccentric Lord Byron and his physician, John Polidori—to Lake Geneva for the summer.
Almost immediately, Mehr notices strange, ghostly events at the villa. The walls breathe, portraits shift, and phantoms appear like unbidden guests who refuse to leave. The weather is fierce and foreboding, showing no signs of softening its relentless pall. And as Mary Shelley begins work on what will become her earth-shattering literary phenomenon, Mehr finds herself trapped in the villa as the rest of its inhabitants descend into madness.
337 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 3, 2026
About the author
Leila Siddiqui
2 books127 followersLeila Siddiqui is a Chicago-born Texan who calls New York home. She currently works in publishing in the marketing department. She is a horror film devotee and when not writing, spends her time fawning over her very floofy cats. She lives with her partner in Queens.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
January 5, 2026
Reading for review in the January 2026 issue of Library Journal.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Gothic, retelling, menacing
Gothic's are usually atmospheric, but this book is menacing. I needed to add that word above to make sure that was clear
Drafter Review: Most horror readers know the atmospheric and unsettling tale of the summer of 1816, at a villa in Switzerland, where a teenaged Mary Shelley wrote, Frankenstein, as part of a storytelling competition with her lover Percy, step-sister Claire, the poet Lord Byron, and his doctor Palidoir during a dreary summer. However, very few remember the character of Safie, an Arabian maid. Seizing on her inclusion, Siddiqui tells the “real life story” of the upper class, Mohammed Indian, Mehrunissa (Mehr) who travels to England to let her brother know of their mother’s death, but when she cannot locate him, her brown skin seals Mehr's fate. Forced to find a job as a maid, Mehr lands in the employ of Shelley. Readers eagerly follow Mehr as she serves the bohemian artists, noticing things they are too self-absorbed to see, things that inject supernatural horror and very real danger into the lore around the novel’s creation.* Mehr must rise to the challenge, no matter how terrified, if anyone is going to leave the villa alive.
Verdict: Injecting new menace into an already beloved horror classic, this is a great suggestion for fans of Mexican Gothic by Silivia Moreno-Garcia or Midnight Rooms by Donyae Coles, in general, and Frankenstein inspired tales in the vein of Eynhallow by Tim McGregor, specifically.
This is a retelling of the summer of 1816 set at the time and place of where 19 yo Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. History knows that Percy (not legally her husband because he was still married) and their 4 month old baby, her step sister Claire-- pregnant with Lord Byrons baby-- they all set out to Switzerland for a vacation. They end up at Villa Diodati with Lord Byron and his personal doctor-- Polidori. We know that the weather was terrible that summer and they spent a lot of time inside. To stave off boredom, history says they challenged each other to write stories and Frankenstein was born from here.
Do you need to know all of this to read and enjoy this book here? No. And that is a positive. Siddiqui does a great job writing Mehr's story. This is a novel in written like a Gothic for the early 1800s but instead of being lead by white people, we have Mehr's unique experience to drive the narrative. More about her.
Siddiqui's novel takes one character from Frankenstein-- the Arabian maid-- Safie-- and gives her a voice. That voice is an Islamic Indian woman from the upper classes Mehrunissa Begum (Mehr) who has come to England to deliver the news of their mother's passing to her brother James. They have been separated by their English father for years. But when she gets there, even though she is wealthy, it is 1816 and she is brown and clearly foreign.
Circumstances lead her to get employment with the Shelly family as a housemaid. And so she is wrapped up in the circumstances that led to the creation of Frankenstein.
First, I loved that Mehr was from the upper classes so she has NO IDEA how to serve others. We hear from her about having to learn to clean and how awful chaining chamber pots is. And all of that detail-- which was good on its own to set the stage-- comes into play in the story. IT is while doing her chores, Mehr notices things that others do not and cannot.
Her eyes-- seeing this interesting conglomeration of people was enjoyable.
The lore around the creation of Frankenstein posits that something terrible must have happened at that villa for Shelley to write Frankenstein. (I think that is BS saying a teenage girl couldn't write this, but I digress). Siddiqui takes that lore though and gives us the story of what happened and makes Mehr the hero that saves them all from themselves and the monster here.
Frankenstein with the racism nd classism laid bare. A great sense of place both London and the estate in Switzerland. Because Mehr is an outsider, we get all of the details and I loved that.
I liked this book and it made me even more excited to see what Siddiqui does with her own story idea in the future. Fun to read this and see the creation of Frankenstein fictionalized in a new way, but I would love the Gothic in India during this time. Mehr gave me just a glimpse of the stories she could tell and I hope I get to read those.
I have seen some reviews here that were like-- but I didn't learn more about Mary Shelley and that made this not good. And to those I said, you missed the point. This was never supposed to be Mary's story. This is Mehr's story. And what Siddiqui wrote-- completely fictionalized of course-- adds so much to the conversation about Frankenstein, its teenaged writer, and the world in which it was written. We see the world from an outsider's eyes. And since these people were all so self obsessed and upper class and since we are outsiders looking in on this world from 200 years later, I think it is even more telling and interesting because of this.
This reminded me a lot of other Gothic retellings of Fiction books written from the point of view of a forgotten character like The Butcher’s Daughter: The Hitherto Untold story of Mrs. Lovett by David Demchuk and Corinne Leigh Clark.
But also a traditional Gothic (in style and prose) from a marginalized perspective so perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia, Midnight Rooms by Danyae Coles or The Hacienda by Isabel Canas.
And don't forget feminist Frankenstein retellings like Eynhallow by Tim McGregor. In fact, for me this was the best readalike, but I understand the others listed will work better for most readers.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Gothic, retelling, menacing
Gothic's are usually atmospheric, but this book is menacing. I needed to add that word above to make sure that was clear
Drafter Review: Most horror readers know the atmospheric and unsettling tale of the summer of 1816, at a villa in Switzerland, where a teenaged Mary Shelley wrote, Frankenstein, as part of a storytelling competition with her lover Percy, step-sister Claire, the poet Lord Byron, and his doctor Palidoir during a dreary summer. However, very few remember the character of Safie, an Arabian maid. Seizing on her inclusion, Siddiqui tells the “real life story” of the upper class, Mohammed Indian, Mehrunissa (Mehr) who travels to England to let her brother know of their mother’s death, but when she cannot locate him, her brown skin seals Mehr's fate. Forced to find a job as a maid, Mehr lands in the employ of Shelley. Readers eagerly follow Mehr as she serves the bohemian artists, noticing things they are too self-absorbed to see, things that inject supernatural horror and very real danger into the lore around the novel’s creation.* Mehr must rise to the challenge, no matter how terrified, if anyone is going to leave the villa alive.
Verdict: Injecting new menace into an already beloved horror classic, this is a great suggestion for fans of Mexican Gothic by Silivia Moreno-Garcia or Midnight Rooms by Donyae Coles, in general, and Frankenstein inspired tales in the vein of Eynhallow by Tim McGregor, specifically.
This is a retelling of the summer of 1816 set at the time and place of where 19 yo Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. History knows that Percy (not legally her husband because he was still married) and their 4 month old baby, her step sister Claire-- pregnant with Lord Byrons baby-- they all set out to Switzerland for a vacation. They end up at Villa Diodati with Lord Byron and his personal doctor-- Polidori. We know that the weather was terrible that summer and they spent a lot of time inside. To stave off boredom, history says they challenged each other to write stories and Frankenstein was born from here.
Do you need to know all of this to read and enjoy this book here? No. And that is a positive. Siddiqui does a great job writing Mehr's story. This is a novel in written like a Gothic for the early 1800s but instead of being lead by white people, we have Mehr's unique experience to drive the narrative. More about her.
Siddiqui's novel takes one character from Frankenstein-- the Arabian maid-- Safie-- and gives her a voice. That voice is an Islamic Indian woman from the upper classes Mehrunissa Begum (Mehr) who has come to England to deliver the news of their mother's passing to her brother James. They have been separated by their English father for years. But when she gets there, even though she is wealthy, it is 1816 and she is brown and clearly foreign.
Circumstances lead her to get employment with the Shelly family as a housemaid. And so she is wrapped up in the circumstances that led to the creation of Frankenstein.
First, I loved that Mehr was from the upper classes so she has NO IDEA how to serve others. We hear from her about having to learn to clean and how awful chaining chamber pots is. And all of that detail-- which was good on its own to set the stage-- comes into play in the story. IT is while doing her chores, Mehr notices things that others do not and cannot.
Her eyes-- seeing this interesting conglomeration of people was enjoyable.
The lore around the creation of Frankenstein posits that something terrible must have happened at that villa for Shelley to write Frankenstein. (I think that is BS saying a teenage girl couldn't write this, but I digress). Siddiqui takes that lore though and gives us the story of what happened and makes Mehr the hero that saves them all from themselves and the monster here.
Frankenstein with the racism nd classism laid bare. A great sense of place both London and the estate in Switzerland. Because Mehr is an outsider, we get all of the details and I loved that.
I liked this book and it made me even more excited to see what Siddiqui does with her own story idea in the future. Fun to read this and see the creation of Frankenstein fictionalized in a new way, but I would love the Gothic in India during this time. Mehr gave me just a glimpse of the stories she could tell and I hope I get to read those.
I have seen some reviews here that were like-- but I didn't learn more about Mary Shelley and that made this not good. And to those I said, you missed the point. This was never supposed to be Mary's story. This is Mehr's story. And what Siddiqui wrote-- completely fictionalized of course-- adds so much to the conversation about Frankenstein, its teenaged writer, and the world in which it was written. We see the world from an outsider's eyes. And since these people were all so self obsessed and upper class and since we are outsiders looking in on this world from 200 years later, I think it is even more telling and interesting because of this.
This reminded me a lot of other Gothic retellings of Fiction books written from the point of view of a forgotten character like The Butcher’s Daughter: The Hitherto Untold story of Mrs. Lovett by David Demchuk and Corinne Leigh Clark.
But also a traditional Gothic (in style and prose) from a marginalized perspective so perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia, Midnight Rooms by Danyae Coles or The Hacienda by Isabel Canas.
And don't forget feminist Frankenstein retellings like Eynhallow by Tim McGregor. In fact, for me this was the best readalike, but I understand the others listed will work better for most readers.
February 24, 2026
If clickbait were a book, this book is it.
This book is marketed as taking place during the summer Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein. That’s basically a bait-and-switch. There’s a brief mention she’s writing a book, but no title, nothing meaningful about Frankenstein at all. If you picked this up expecting insight into that period, you’ll be disappointed.
Beyond that, the story itself turns into a chaotic, unfocused mess. I forced myself through it, but by the end I had no idea what the point was.
This book is marketed as taking place during the summer Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein. That’s basically a bait-and-switch. There’s a brief mention she’s writing a book, but no title, nothing meaningful about Frankenstein at all. If you picked this up expecting insight into that period, you’ll be disappointed.
Beyond that, the story itself turns into a chaotic, unfocused mess. I forced myself through it, but by the end I had no idea what the point was.
January 21, 2026
I enjoy retellings when the author shifts the spotlight from popular to unknown characters, which gives a different way of seeing events. The prologue intrigued me, and the overall story kept me reading until the very end.
This is a historical revisionist take on the summer Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. Unlike other retellings that focus on the toxic relationships between the famous figures, The Glowing Hours focuses on Mehr, a maid, and her experience with the Shelleys that summer.
What stood out: If I were to pinpoint one element that stood out for me, it was the main character Mehr. There was a lot of complexity in her character - from a pampered daughter to a maid, her indifference to the Shelleys yet piqued by their drama, and her strong sense of duty despite not wanting to travel so far from home. It's quite a story, and when I thought I knew everything about her, came the twist.
The dark, somber atmosphere was present from start to finish. It felt like the cold seeping through my bones while reading this book. The hauntings felt like fevered dreams. I had to ask myself if they were conjured by the characters.
I had a hard time suspending my disbelief in this gothic retelling, maybe because the characters were historical personas. I'm not fully bought in.
A few memorable quotes from scenes aboard the ship to London with Mehr and the boy she was tutoring, Anand:
"Because I miss him, I see him. He will always be with me until I cannot see him anymore." - Anand, The Glowing Hours by Leila Siddiqui
"Something as perfect as a memory." - Anand, The Glowing Hours by Leila Siddiqui
Similar vibes: If you love moody books with a twist like Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, this delivers the same atmosphere. For revisionist historical fiction with supernatural elements, The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas has a similar otherness feel to it.
You'll love this if: You want gothic horror retellings, dark atmospheric reads, and stories that shift focus to lesser-known characters.
Thanks to SoHo Press and NetGalley for my early ARC access for review.
This is a historical revisionist take on the summer Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. Unlike other retellings that focus on the toxic relationships between the famous figures, The Glowing Hours focuses on Mehr, a maid, and her experience with the Shelleys that summer.
What stood out: If I were to pinpoint one element that stood out for me, it was the main character Mehr. There was a lot of complexity in her character - from a pampered daughter to a maid, her indifference to the Shelleys yet piqued by their drama, and her strong sense of duty despite not wanting to travel so far from home. It's quite a story, and when I thought I knew everything about her, came the twist.
The dark, somber atmosphere was present from start to finish. It felt like the cold seeping through my bones while reading this book. The hauntings felt like fevered dreams. I had to ask myself if they were conjured by the characters.
I had a hard time suspending my disbelief in this gothic retelling, maybe because the characters were historical personas. I'm not fully bought in.
A few memorable quotes from scenes aboard the ship to London with Mehr and the boy she was tutoring, Anand:
"Because I miss him, I see him. He will always be with me until I cannot see him anymore." - Anand, The Glowing Hours by Leila Siddiqui
"Something as perfect as a memory." - Anand, The Glowing Hours by Leila Siddiqui
Similar vibes: If you love moody books with a twist like Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, this delivers the same atmosphere. For revisionist historical fiction with supernatural elements, The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas has a similar otherness feel to it.
You'll love this if: You want gothic horror retellings, dark atmospheric reads, and stories that shift focus to lesser-known characters.
Thanks to SoHo Press and NetGalley for my early ARC access for review.
February 24, 2026
What the (s)helly?
February 10, 2026
To be honest, I found The Glowing Hours to be a disappointing read. I liked the premise—or at least what I thought would be the premise: the composing of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein during that rainy summer as seen through the eyes of a newly hired servant, a heiress from India who finds herself stranded penniless in London.
The reader can assume Shelley is writing Frankenstein, but the book, and the reason for its composition, is a no-show. It's manuscript that grows longer, but that never really enters the novel. There are horrors, but there's very little connection between the horrors the book's characters encounter and the horrors readers must wrestle with in Frankenstein.
The newly hired servant, Mehr, has an interesting perspective: simultaneously critical of the stiffness of the British and shocked by the frivolity of their lives. These British are cold and closed off. These British are also self-indulgent and hugely irresponsible with money. But the reader never gets into Mehr's mind in a satisfying way. Mehr is observing and responding, but there's a level of analysis by her that is missing, which left her character feeling incomplete to me.
The Glowing Hours has left me wanting to read more of Siddiqui's work, but it isn't a title I'll be rereading.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
The reader can assume Shelley is writing Frankenstein, but the book, and the reason for its composition, is a no-show. It's manuscript that grows longer, but that never really enters the novel. There are horrors, but there's very little connection between the horrors the book's characters encounter and the horrors readers must wrestle with in Frankenstein.
The newly hired servant, Mehr, has an interesting perspective: simultaneously critical of the stiffness of the British and shocked by the frivolity of their lives. These British are cold and closed off. These British are also self-indulgent and hugely irresponsible with money. But the reader never gets into Mehr's mind in a satisfying way. Mehr is observing and responding, but there's a level of analysis by her that is missing, which left her character feeling incomplete to me.
The Glowing Hours has left me wanting to read more of Siddiqui's work, but it isn't a title I'll be rereading.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
Did Not Finish
January 1, 2026Thank you to SoHo Press and NetGalley for the ARC.
DNF @ 35%. This is billed as a Gothic horror, and one thing that is universal to Gothic horror novels is they are all about the atmosphere. Over a third into the book, there is no Gothic horror atmosphere to be found. Too bad, because I thought this was a decent premise, but without any atmosphere and any tension so far, it's not worth it to me to read another 200 pages. I am up for a slow burn story...but the burn still has to exist in the first place.
DNF @ 35%. This is billed as a Gothic horror, and one thing that is universal to Gothic horror novels is they are all about the atmosphere. Over a third into the book, there is no Gothic horror atmosphere to be found. Too bad, because I thought this was a decent premise, but without any atmosphere and any tension so far, it's not worth it to me to read another 200 pages. I am up for a slow burn story...but the burn still has to exist in the first place.
January 12, 2026
i love it when authors shine the spotlight on characters or on voices that are relegated to the shadows in the past so i was very excited to read it.
a slow burn gothic novel that at times feels like a hazy, fever dream.
it does have a nice little twist right near the end where everything comes together almost perfectly. personally i would have loved a little more sinew and tendon, a little more of the blood still on the walls, instead of everything wrapped up so neat and tidy.
thanking the publishers and netgalley for the ARC!!
a slow burn gothic novel that at times feels like a hazy, fever dream.
it does have a nice little twist right near the end where everything comes together almost perfectly. personally i would have loved a little more sinew and tendon, a little more of the blood still on the walls, instead of everything wrapped up so neat and tidy.
thanking the publishers and netgalley for the ARC!!
February 14, 2026
I’m still trying to figure out what this was. The protagonist of the book is Mehr, an aristocratic Indian immigrant to England in 1816. Unfortunately for Mehr, she arrives in London to find that her father and brother have abandoned her but made arrangements for her to live in a boarding house that exists for the purpose of placing immigrant women into domestic positions. Mehr ends up in the household of Percy and Mary Shelley and accompanies them to Lake Geneva to stay with Lord Byron at the estate where Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein.
The description of this book hooked me - I have not read Frankenstein but thought the circumstances around Mary Shelley writing it would be an interesting story. I liked the beginning of the book which focused on Mehr’s situation and her struggles with going from having her own servants in India to becoming one herself. However, I would have appreciated better character development. Even the Lake Geneva part of the story started out in an engaging manner with the introduction of Lord Byron and then hints of the supernatural. But then more characters were introduced and the book took a sudden bizarre left turn with a quick succession of murders, the arrivals of more people who are actually dead and the house forcing Mehr into sexual orgies. Totally bizarre and ridiculous! I enjoy fantasy and some mild horror sometimes but this book is over the top! The shift in storyline made me feel like it is actually very poorly written and I’m surprised that it was approved for publication.
Nevertheless, I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own.
The description of this book hooked me - I have not read Frankenstein but thought the circumstances around Mary Shelley writing it would be an interesting story. I liked the beginning of the book which focused on Mehr’s situation and her struggles with going from having her own servants in India to becoming one herself. However, I would have appreciated better character development. Even the Lake Geneva part of the story started out in an engaging manner with the introduction of Lord Byron and then hints of the supernatural. But then more characters were introduced and the book took a sudden bizarre left turn with a quick succession of murders, the arrivals of more people who are actually dead and the house forcing Mehr into sexual orgies. Totally bizarre and ridiculous! I enjoy fantasy and some mild horror sometimes but this book is over the top! The shift in storyline made me feel like it is actually very poorly written and I’m surprised that it was approved for publication.
Nevertheless, I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own.
Did Not Finish
November 11, 2025⋆⭒˚｡⋆ ୭ | dnf
ended up dnfing this because i was reading it during exams,so i wasn't really in the mood. ill might pick it up when it releases. idrk
⋆⭒˚｡⋆ ୭ | pre-read
just got the e-arc from netgalley, saw that it had gothic elements and immediately requested
ended up dnfing this because i was reading it during exams,so i wasn't really in the mood. ill might pick it up when it releases. idrk
⋆⭒˚｡⋆ ୭ | pre-read
just got the e-arc from netgalley, saw that it had gothic elements and immediately requested
March 17, 2026
A haunting piece of historical fiction. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!
I have yet to read Frankenstein, so I have no idea how well, or even to what extent, this novel works as reception to that novel, but I quite enjoyed it as a piece of fiction separate from that. Mehr is a wonderful main character; I adored how for basically all of the novel she did not give a single shit about working for the Shelleys and thought they were losers. "Random person from the margins of a famous artist's life comes into contact with them and is astounded by their genius" is common enough that the twist of Mehr pitying the Shelleys, Lord Byron, and the rest is genuinely different and enjoyable. The horror is also very good, particularly considering that a lot of it is based around being unable to tell what's real and what isn't. It's incredibly well foiled against Byron's social manipulation. I usually cannot stand not being able to tell what's real and what isn't in horror novels, but here it feels like a natural progression of Byron fucking with everyone's heads. For personal reasons, a charismatic but thoughtlessly cruel person who has everyone at their beck and call will always get me good.
My only real complaint is that I didn't love the ending. It was a bit abrupt, and frankly I'm still a little confused, but it does work better once you reread the beginning.
Highly recommend for historical RPF enjoyers in particular and horror/historical fiction fans in general.
I have yet to read Frankenstein, so I have no idea how well, or even to what extent, this novel works as reception to that novel, but I quite enjoyed it as a piece of fiction separate from that. Mehr is a wonderful main character; I adored how for basically all of the novel she did not give a single shit about working for the Shelleys and thought they were losers. "Random person from the margins of a famous artist's life comes into contact with them and is astounded by their genius" is common enough that the twist of Mehr pitying the Shelleys, Lord Byron, and the rest is genuinely different and enjoyable. The horror is also very good, particularly considering that a lot of it is based around being unable to tell what's real and what isn't. It's incredibly well foiled against Byron's social manipulation. I usually cannot stand not being able to tell what's real and what isn't in horror novels, but here it feels like a natural progression of Byron fucking with everyone's heads. For personal reasons, a charismatic but thoughtlessly cruel person who has everyone at their beck and call will always get me good.
My only real complaint is that I didn't love the ending. It was a bit abrupt, and frankly I'm still a little confused, but it does work better once you reread the beginning.
Highly recommend for historical RPF enjoyers in particular and horror/historical fiction fans in general.
February 8, 2026
Moody Gothic with a Creeping Edge
The Glowing Hours is a richly atmospheric gothic novel that leans hard into unease and slow burning dread. The setting is soaked in shadow and melancholy, and the haunted summer energy really works. I loved experiencing this famous moment in literary history through Mehr’s perspective, it adds emotional depth and a sense of isolation that lingers long after you put the book down. The supernatural elements are subtle but unsettling, and the whole story has a quiet, creeping intensity rather than big shocks. The pacing drags a little in spots, which kept it from being a full five stars for me, but overall it’s a dark, immersive read with a unique voice and mood for days.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy this is my honest review.
The Glowing Hours is a richly atmospheric gothic novel that leans hard into unease and slow burning dread. The setting is soaked in shadow and melancholy, and the haunted summer energy really works. I loved experiencing this famous moment in literary history through Mehr’s perspective, it adds emotional depth and a sense of isolation that lingers long after you put the book down. The supernatural elements are subtle but unsettling, and the whole story has a quiet, creeping intensity rather than big shocks. The pacing drags a little in spots, which kept it from being a full five stars for me, but overall it’s a dark, immersive read with a unique voice and mood for days.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy this is my honest review.
May 6, 2026
Rounded up from 2.5 stars.
This book was wonderful and atmospheric until it got a little past the halfway mark. At that point, the plot collapsed, the book this might have been died, and a bunch of weird nonsensical shit occurred. Had this really been the book we were promised - the story of the writing contest between the Shelleys, Polidori, and Byron from the housemaid’s point of view - we might have learned something or, at least, might have been entertained. What we got was a load of WTF - and not in a good way. I can’t call it a fever dream, because even a fever dream would make more sense. It’s a shame. The book had potential and is physically gorgeous. Just look at the cover! But in the end, it was just a mess. Disappointed.
This book was wonderful and atmospheric until it got a little past the halfway mark. At that point, the plot collapsed, the book this might have been died, and a bunch of weird nonsensical shit occurred. Had this really been the book we were promised - the story of the writing contest between the Shelleys, Polidori, and Byron from the housemaid’s point of view - we might have learned something or, at least, might have been entertained. What we got was a load of WTF - and not in a good way. I can’t call it a fever dream, because even a fever dream would make more sense. It’s a shame. The book had potential and is physically gorgeous. Just look at the cover! But in the end, it was just a mess. Disappointed.
December 8, 2025
“The Glowing Hours” by Leila Siddiqui was filled with a gothic atmosphere, and sets itself apart from other gothic novels with an Indian protagonist. Mehr, is an Indian noblewoman who travels to England to deliver a letter of inheritance to her brother. When she is unable to find him and lacks money for a passage home she is forced to find work as a house maid. The employer the agency connects her with just so happens to be Mary Shelley, the young woman who will write “Frankenstein”. In fact Mehr is brought along on the trip to the Villa Diodati where the novel is first conceived. When they arrive the villa seems to be alive with some dark force, and soon phantoms begin to haunt the inhabitants. I found the relationship between Mehr, the Shelleys, and the writers she meets at the villa, Lord Byron and Doctor Polidori interesting, there is a mixture of contempt and begrudging admiration that Mehr has for all of them. She also has little interest in making friends with the other servants, and finds them annoying and dull. Because of her upbringing, and the unfortunate position she’s in, I can understand why she would find it hard to feel compassion for them, but after a while her constant derision for everyone around her does become grating. If you come to this book hoping for a romanticized look at these famous writers you will be disappointed, only Mary and Polidori are looked on with any passing fondness. I’d say as long as you’re okay with following along with a protagonist that’s a little prickly, then I think you could have a good time with this novel. The hauntings were interesting, I enjoyed a lot of the descriptions, and it’s an interesting premise. Some plot contrivances had me scratching my head, but I had a good time reading overall.
*Thank you NetGalley and Soho Press for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!*
*Thank you NetGalley and Soho Press for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!*
Read
March 2, 2026Leila Siddiqui's The Glowing Hours reimagines the writing of Frankenstein from the perspective of Mary Shelley's Indian housemaid. But it's not just the novel that's haunted...
Read Mahvesh Murad's review
Read Mahvesh Murad's review
March 30, 2026
The description of this book was very misleading. It's touted as the summer that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, but yet there's nothing really mentioned about her writing Frankenstein. And then it just sort of goes off the rails with random murders and orgies and what not.
Not worth your time.
Not worth your time.
February 14, 2026
Audible version narrated by Rachel Petladwala
DNF at 69% (about 5½ hours in)…I’m officially tapping out.
I was drawn in by the Mary Shelley/Frankenstein angle and the promise of gothic horror, but what I got was a long, meandering backstory and a narrator who sounded perpetually frantic despite very little actually happening. I was frequently confused, often bored, and increasingly unsure why certain details were being emphasized at all. When the “gothic” elements finally arrived, I had stopped caring.
Sadly, it’s a no for me.
DNF at 69% (about 5½ hours in)…I’m officially tapping out.
I was drawn in by the Mary Shelley/Frankenstein angle and the promise of gothic horror, but what I got was a long, meandering backstory and a narrator who sounded perpetually frantic despite very little actually happening. I was frequently confused, often bored, and increasingly unsure why certain details were being emphasized at all. When the “gothic” elements finally arrived, I had stopped caring.
Sadly, it’s a no for me.
January 7, 2026
First and foremost, Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!
3.5 ⭐️s rounded up
The first thing that drew me to The Glowing Hours was the cover, it’s absolutely stunning. What really sold me, though, was the premise: a historical fiction horror set during the year Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, told through the perspective of her housemaid, Mehrunissa, newly arrived from India. It’s such a unique angle, and one I was genuinely excited to explore.
Overall, I did enjoy this book, though pacing was my biggest struggle. The first 40–45% felt incredibly slow. While it was interesting enough to keep me picking it back up, I wasn’t fully compelled to keep reading until about the halfway mark, which felt a little late for the story to really find its stride.
That said, once things started moving, I was all in. The atmosphere became rich and immersive, the writing flowed beautifully, and the eerie elements introduced later added a layer of tension that really elevated the story. I’m glad I stuck with it, because by the end I found the experience rewarding and memorable.
If you’re someone who enjoys slow-burn historical fiction with a creeping sense of horror, this one may be worth the patience.
3.5 ⭐️s rounded up
The first thing that drew me to The Glowing Hours was the cover, it’s absolutely stunning. What really sold me, though, was the premise: a historical fiction horror set during the year Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, told through the perspective of her housemaid, Mehrunissa, newly arrived from India. It’s such a unique angle, and one I was genuinely excited to explore.
Overall, I did enjoy this book, though pacing was my biggest struggle. The first 40–45% felt incredibly slow. While it was interesting enough to keep me picking it back up, I wasn’t fully compelled to keep reading until about the halfway mark, which felt a little late for the story to really find its stride.
That said, once things started moving, I was all in. The atmosphere became rich and immersive, the writing flowed beautifully, and the eerie elements introduced later added a layer of tension that really elevated the story. I’m glad I stuck with it, because by the end I found the experience rewarding and memorable.
If you’re someone who enjoys slow-burn historical fiction with a creeping sense of horror, this one may be worth the patience.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Received as a NetGalley arc in exchange for an honest review
Leila Siddiqui approaches identity, dominance, pain, grief, and artistry through a framework of intersectionality. "The Glowing Hours" retells the messy story of Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, and Claire Clairmont's visit to Lake Geneva with Lord Byron, along with his personal physician. It is witnessed by the Shelley's housemaid, Mehr, who had traveled from India to see her estranged father and give her brother the inheritance willed to him by their mother. During this visit, Mehr's otherness is apparent. She is restricted by the class decided by her employment and often exoticized as a mixed-race woman from Lucknow, India. She is haunted by her mother's death, her change in circumstance when abandoned by her brother and father and forced to find work, and embittered by the entitled behaviour of her employers and Lord Byron. Soon, however, these frustrations are amplified by shifting portraits, familiar phantoms, and a relentless beat that seems to come from the house itself.
Leila Siddiqui approaches identity, dominance, pain, grief, and artistry through a framework of intersectionality. "The Glowing Hours" retells the messy story of Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, and Claire Clairmont's visit to Lake Geneva with Lord Byron, along with his personal physician. It is witnessed by the Shelley's housemaid, Mehr, who had traveled from India to see her estranged father and give her brother the inheritance willed to him by their mother. During this visit, Mehr's otherness is apparent. She is restricted by the class decided by her employment and often exoticized as a mixed-race woman from Lucknow, India. She is haunted by her mother's death, her change in circumstance when abandoned by her brother and father and forced to find work, and embittered by the entitled behaviour of her employers and Lord Byron. Soon, however, these frustrations are amplified by shifting portraits, familiar phantoms, and a relentless beat that seems to come from the house itself.
November 17, 2025
Ostensibly a retelling of the summer Mary and Percy Shelley lived in Switzerland with Lord Byron, this goes deeper than that. Told from the lens of a their Indian housemaid and why she had to work for these artists. Mehr, a high ranking Indian woman, had to take work as a domestic bc of family circumstances. What was so refreshing was that she didn't really know how to do the household duties and was just as educated, if not more so, then her employers. And, her narration of events and how they came to be, gives that summer a whole new twist as to what inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein.
I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.
I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
It's going to be a no for me
A thank you to Netgalley for providing this eARC
I was so excited when it dropped in my shelf because:
1- POC author
2- POC Indian main character
3- Mary Shelley allure
4- Gothic horror
but it was such a disappointment.
Let's begin with the biggest glaring issue: if this is told through the lense of the very minor ARABIAN character in FRANKENSTEIN - Safie- why was she suddenly changed into an half indian half british????? I guess some authors like Hollywood, Indians - Arabs makes no difference to them.
anyways
The book can be divided into 2 parts
The first 50% and the last 50%
The first half was nothing more than a biography
Let's start with how the blurb and tags are a bit misleading
"A mind-bending, revisionist gothic horror story about the fabled summer Mary Shelley began work on Frankenstein, as told by her Indian housemaid.
This is how this book is presented. Immediately, as a Frankenstein lover, I am hooked.
What I expected?
an immediate delve into the summer Mary Shelley started working on the book
her relationship with her housemaid
Gothic horror that surrounds said setting
What I got
a 40% page after page about Mehr's previous life in India and how she is a snob because she is too good to be associated with the common working indian in London.
Everything I knew about Mehr made me like her less and less
Apparently, she knows how to draw, but we never see her using that talent
She has a sob mother-father story, which we do not get the full detail off, eventhough we are in 120 pages and still do not know why this is important to the overall theme
Once she is hired by the Shelleys, we see very little to no interaction between her and them, rendering her as an observer.
We do not get an in-depth telling of their lives, just the surface which is not enough to understand the dynamics.
Then the Shelleys, with Lord Byron, Dr Paldoni and Merh, move "to Lake Geneva for the summer. Almost immediately, Mehr notices strange, ghostly events at the villa.
No, she doesn't!!!!!!
It takes her weeks of recounting trivial everyday living before we get to the "strange, ghostly events", and by this time, I was bored to even care.
The last 50% is the start of the Gothic Horror if you want to call it that!
and yes, I would say it is gothic with a pinch of horror because of the ghosts, and blood, and voices, and trapped in house, and murder.
But the story does not make any sense!
Where is the "summer Mary Shelley started working on Frankenstein" at?
Was all those famous characters necessary to the story?
It felt like self-insert!
And this is not mentioning the offensive reference to Muslims as "Mohammaden"! So Christians are called Christains but heaven forbid we say Muslims!
Mehr is a "Muslim"?? who doesn't pray, doesn't supplicate, and believes in spirits, ghosts and Talismans! what a perfect representation🙄🙄oh and she sleeps around...guess she takes after her afringe father!
and to think I was excited for this book because of the author!
A thank you to Netgalley for providing this eARC
I was so excited when it dropped in my shelf because:
1- POC author
2- POC Indian main character
3- Mary Shelley allure
4- Gothic horror
but it was such a disappointment.
Let's begin with the biggest glaring issue: if this is told through the lense of the very minor ARABIAN character in FRANKENSTEIN - Safie- why was she suddenly changed into an half indian half british????? I guess some authors like Hollywood, Indians - Arabs makes no difference to them.
anyways
The book can be divided into 2 parts
The first 50% and the last 50%
The first half was nothing more than a biography
Let's start with how the blurb and tags are a bit misleading
"A mind-bending, revisionist gothic horror story about the fabled summer Mary Shelley began work on Frankenstein, as told by her Indian housemaid.
This is how this book is presented. Immediately, as a Frankenstein lover, I am hooked.
What I expected?
an immediate delve into the summer Mary Shelley started working on the book
her relationship with her housemaid
Gothic horror that surrounds said setting
What I got
a 40% page after page about Mehr's previous life in India and how she is a snob because she is too good to be associated with the common working indian in London.
Everything I knew about Mehr made me like her less and less
Apparently, she knows how to draw, but we never see her using that talent
She has a sob mother-father story, which we do not get the full detail off, eventhough we are in 120 pages and still do not know why this is important to the overall theme
Once she is hired by the Shelleys, we see very little to no interaction between her and them, rendering her as an observer.
We do not get an in-depth telling of their lives, just the surface which is not enough to understand the dynamics.
Then the Shelleys, with Lord Byron, Dr Paldoni and Merh, move "to Lake Geneva for the summer. Almost immediately, Mehr notices strange, ghostly events at the villa.
No, she doesn't!!!!!!
It takes her weeks of recounting trivial everyday living before we get to the "strange, ghostly events", and by this time, I was bored to even care.
The last 50% is the start of the Gothic Horror if you want to call it that!
and yes, I would say it is gothic with a pinch of horror because of the ghosts, and blood, and voices, and trapped in house, and murder.
But the story does not make any sense!
Where is the "summer Mary Shelley started working on Frankenstein" at?
Was all those famous characters necessary to the story?
It felt like self-insert!
And this is not mentioning the offensive reference to Muslims as "Mohammaden"! So Christians are called Christains but heaven forbid we say Muslims!
Mehr is a "Muslim"?? who doesn't pray, doesn't supplicate, and believes in spirits, ghosts and Talismans! what a perfect representation🙄🙄oh and she sleeps around...guess she takes after her afringe father!
and to think I was excited for this book because of the author!
Read
January 24, 2026The Glowing Hours by Leila Siddiqui is a haunting, atmospheric gothic horror novel that reimagines the legendary "haunted summer" of 1816, when Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and others gathered at Lake Geneva and Mary began writing Frankenstein. Published in 2026 by Soho Press, this adult debut from Siddiqui (following her earlier work House of Glass Hearts) shifts the narrative lens away from the famous literary figures and onto Mehrunissa Begum (Mehr), an Indian housemaid whose perspective infuses the story with fresh intersectional depth, colonial undertones, and creeping supernatural dread.The plot follows Mehr, newly arrived in a hostile London from India to deliver an inheritance letter to her brother, only to find him vanished and herself stranded without funds or connections. She ends up in service at the Villa Diodati (or its fictionalized equivalent), becoming entangled in the orbit of the Shelleys, Byron, and the stormy, ghost-haunted events that inspire Frankenstein. What begins as a historical revisionist tale soon spirals into mind-bending horror, with ghosts, unexplained phenomena, and a slow-burn sense of menace that ties into themes of creation, grief, identity, dominance, and the monstrous.Siddiqui's prose is vivid and immersive, excelling at building an eerie, surreal atmosphere that feels both period-accurate and psychologically unsettling. The novel's strength lies in its revisionist approach: by centering an Indian woman from the margins, it cleverly parallels the "othered" creature in Frankenstein with real colonial and racial dynamics, while exploring how art emerges from pain and obsession. Fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic or other modern gothic reimaginings will appreciate how Siddiqui injects new menace into this classic literary origin story.That said, the book isn't without flaws. Several reviews note a slow first half (roughly the first 40-45%), where the pacing drags as Mehr navigates her new circumstances. The protagonist herself—described as haughty, sullen, and witty—can be a challenging point-of-view character, and some critics felt the risk of making her unlikable didn't fully pay off, occasionally distancing the reader. There are also mentions of underdeveloped supernatural elements, plot holes, or moments that feel unexplained in service of mood over logic.Overall, The Glowing Hours is an engrossing, creepy, and ambitious read that succeeds as both a literary homage and a standalone horror tale. It offers a satisfying resolution to its slow-burn buildup and brings a much-needed diverse perspective to a well-trodden piece of literary history. If you enjoy gothic fiction with brains, ghosts, and sharp social commentary, this one glows brightly—recommended for readers who don't mind a deliberate pace in exchange for rich atmosphere and thoughtful reimagining.Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
A solid, unsettling addition to the gothic horror shelf, especially for Frankenstein enthusiasts looking for something fresh.
A solid, unsettling addition to the gothic horror shelf, especially for Frankenstein enthusiasts looking for something fresh.
February 11, 2026
BWAF Score: 6/10
Leila Siddiqui’s The Glowing Hours, aka “Villa Diodati: Concierge Service for Your Worst Grief”, is the kind of historical Gothic that shows up in a high-necked black dress, smiles politely, then quietly starts rearranging your insides.
The frame is delicious: Mary Shelley has spent years following gossip to find Mehrunissa Begum Hammersmith, the “exotic and wealthy foreigner” who vanished from London society, and when Mehr finally enters the room, she greets Mary with a line that instantly tells you this book is going to play with identity, authorship, and who gets to be remembered. From there, the novel slides into 1816 and the Shelley/Byron/Polidori orbit with a steady, story-forward gait: travel chatter about Byron’s scandal-magnet reputation, then Geneva, then the lake described like a bright, watchful eye, pretty enough to make you suspicious. The dread is clean and effective: a villa that doesn’t just haunt you, it anticipates you. “It is Diodati,” Mary says, because of course she does, and suddenly the house is handing out exactly what everyone wants, like a cursed hostess with perfect manners and a sharp knife. That “grief + resurrection” pressure is where Siddiqui cooks. The gift is intoxicating, the cost is implied early, and the book keeps tightening the noose by making the wish-fulfillment feel emotionally plausible instead of purely plotty. Also, bonus points for letting hunger be literal: “Our guests are hungry…Make sure we give them a good feed,” Mary instructs, which is funny until it isn’t.
Siddiqui’s best move is how legible the spellwork feels. The villa “knows everything,” the characters argue about what’s happening in plain language, and the uncanny keeps arriving as social reality first, supernatural reality second, which makes it read fast and clean. When the climax leans into devotional, talismanic imagery, it lands because it’s been earned: Mehr opening the taweez, her mother’s whispered prayer filling the air, apparitions bursting into mist, and the whole place snapping back into harsh daylight like someone finally turned on the overheads at the world’s worst dinner party. It’s distinctive, atmospheric, and nicely uncanny. The weird is real, it just doesn’t go fully feral. If you like your Gothic with literary history, yearning, and a sharp little supernatural mechanism you can summarize to a friend without sounding like a conspiracy board, you’re eating good. If you want formal risk and brain-melt strangeness, you might find it a bit too well-behaved.
Read if you want Mary Shelley’s grief put in a vice by a house that knows your search history.
Skip if you crave truly unhinged experimental weird and get itchy when the plot behaves.
Leila Siddiqui’s The Glowing Hours, aka “Villa Diodati: Concierge Service for Your Worst Grief”, is the kind of historical Gothic that shows up in a high-necked black dress, smiles politely, then quietly starts rearranging your insides.
The frame is delicious: Mary Shelley has spent years following gossip to find Mehrunissa Begum Hammersmith, the “exotic and wealthy foreigner” who vanished from London society, and when Mehr finally enters the room, she greets Mary with a line that instantly tells you this book is going to play with identity, authorship, and who gets to be remembered. From there, the novel slides into 1816 and the Shelley/Byron/Polidori orbit with a steady, story-forward gait: travel chatter about Byron’s scandal-magnet reputation, then Geneva, then the lake described like a bright, watchful eye, pretty enough to make you suspicious. The dread is clean and effective: a villa that doesn’t just haunt you, it anticipates you. “It is Diodati,” Mary says, because of course she does, and suddenly the house is handing out exactly what everyone wants, like a cursed hostess with perfect manners and a sharp knife. That “grief + resurrection” pressure is where Siddiqui cooks. The gift is intoxicating, the cost is implied early, and the book keeps tightening the noose by making the wish-fulfillment feel emotionally plausible instead of purely plotty. Also, bonus points for letting hunger be literal: “Our guests are hungry…Make sure we give them a good feed,” Mary instructs, which is funny until it isn’t.
Siddiqui’s best move is how legible the spellwork feels. The villa “knows everything,” the characters argue about what’s happening in plain language, and the uncanny keeps arriving as social reality first, supernatural reality second, which makes it read fast and clean. When the climax leans into devotional, talismanic imagery, it lands because it’s been earned: Mehr opening the taweez, her mother’s whispered prayer filling the air, apparitions bursting into mist, and the whole place snapping back into harsh daylight like someone finally turned on the overheads at the world’s worst dinner party. It’s distinctive, atmospheric, and nicely uncanny. The weird is real, it just doesn’t go fully feral. If you like your Gothic with literary history, yearning, and a sharp little supernatural mechanism you can summarize to a friend without sounding like a conspiracy board, you’re eating good. If you want formal risk and brain-melt strangeness, you might find it a bit too well-behaved.
Read if you want Mary Shelley’s grief put in a vice by a house that knows your search history.
Skip if you crave truly unhinged experimental weird and get itchy when the plot behaves.
March 16, 2026
3.5 rounded up.
Well, I feel dumb, I thought this was a Frankenstein retelling 😆. Annnyyyways, this was amazing for the first half. Voyeuristic, almost cozy day-in-the-life, something’s ‘off’. The final third dives head-first into the most unexpected fever dream chaos and it completely lost me.
Energy: Pragmatic. Posh. Uneasy.
🐺 Howls: The final section got too confusing, repetitive, and dreamlike. I’m not sure what was going on with all the awkward erotic encounters. Was it meant to be so cringey? I think it was going for sexy? The story wraps up so quickly after spending eons building the unease, it felt rushed and unsatisfying.
🐕 Tail Wags: Loved the beginning. The “live-in staff knowing family secrets” set-up, learning stuff through little moments of strangeness or overhearing conversations. The creeping unease. The unsettling visitors (before it went off the rails). The hints of supernatural weirdness (before it went off the rails). Taking inspiration from the real Mary Shelley’s life (…before it went off the rails).
Scene: 🏴 London, England and 🇨🇭 a village near Geneva, Switzerland
Perspective: A traveler delivering news of a family death who unexpectedly finds themselves stranded abroad and forced to work as a servant to earn enough money to return home.
Timeline: Linear. 1815. Rainy, foggy, and sunny.
Narrative: Invisible in the room, bystander watching the story unfold (third person limited).
Cred: Supernatural realism
Stakes: Medium -> High (escalating). Survival. Escape. Independence and autonomy. Unraveling secrets.
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Linens. Taweez. Vine dressers. Bowl of grapes. Sex dreams.
• Extravagant, blunt, immersive writing style
• Determined, self-righteous, and rule-following characters
• Riches to rags to riches
• Reimagining of Mary Shelley’s inspiration for writing Frankenstein
• Supernatural literary historical gothic
• Hook-ups, lust, eroticism
• Obligation, discrimination, class
• Creepy kids and strange visitors
• Chaotic fever dream fairytale
Content Heads-Up: Abandonment (as child, by parent). Ableism (mental illness stigma). Body fluids (chamber pots). Classism. Confinement (trapped). Loss of baby / pregnancy (mentions). Mentally ill parent. Patriarchy (forced gender roles, societal). Racism (systemic, limitations, prejudice). Sex work. Sexual content (rough, consenting, erotic - descriptive, on page). Vomit.
Rep: Indian. British. Swiss. French. Cis. Hetero. Multi. Queer. Brown, pale, and lightly freckled skin tones.
Format: Audible
My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶
Well, I feel dumb, I thought this was a Frankenstein retelling 😆. Annnyyyways, this was amazing for the first half. Voyeuristic, almost cozy day-in-the-life, something’s ‘off’. The final third dives head-first into the most unexpected fever dream chaos and it completely lost me.
Energy: Pragmatic. Posh. Uneasy.
🐺 Howls: The final section got too confusing, repetitive, and dreamlike. I’m not sure what was going on with all the awkward erotic encounters. Was it meant to be so cringey? I think it was going for sexy? The story wraps up so quickly after spending eons building the unease, it felt rushed and unsatisfying.
🐕 Tail Wags: Loved the beginning. The “live-in staff knowing family secrets” set-up, learning stuff through little moments of strangeness or overhearing conversations. The creeping unease. The unsettling visitors (before it went off the rails). The hints of supernatural weirdness (before it went off the rails). Taking inspiration from the real Mary Shelley’s life (…before it went off the rails).
Scene: 🏴 London, England and 🇨🇭 a village near Geneva, Switzerland
Perspective: A traveler delivering news of a family death who unexpectedly finds themselves stranded abroad and forced to work as a servant to earn enough money to return home.
Timeline: Linear. 1815. Rainy, foggy, and sunny.
Narrative: Invisible in the room, bystander watching the story unfold (third person limited).
Cred: Supernatural realism
Stakes: Medium -> High (escalating). Survival. Escape. Independence and autonomy. Unraveling secrets.
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Linens. Taweez. Vine dressers. Bowl of grapes. Sex dreams.
• Extravagant, blunt, immersive writing style
• Determined, self-righteous, and rule-following characters
• Riches to rags to riches
• Reimagining of Mary Shelley’s inspiration for writing Frankenstein
• Supernatural literary historical gothic
• Hook-ups, lust, eroticism
• Obligation, discrimination, class
• Creepy kids and strange visitors
• Chaotic fever dream fairytale
Content Heads-Up: Abandonment (as child, by parent). Ableism (mental illness stigma). Body fluids (chamber pots). Classism. Confinement (trapped). Loss of baby / pregnancy (mentions). Mentally ill parent. Patriarchy (forced gender roles, societal). Racism (systemic, limitations, prejudice). Sex work. Sexual content (rough, consenting, erotic - descriptive, on page). Vomit.
Rep: Indian. British. Swiss. French. Cis. Hetero. Multi. Queer. Brown, pale, and lightly freckled skin tones.
Format: Audible
My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶
April 12, 2026
“On with the dance! let joy be unconfin'd;
No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet
To chase the Glowing Hours with Flying feet.”
This quote from Lord Byron’s poem, “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage,” opens the action of the appropriately titled THE GLOWING HOURS by Leila Siddiqui. There have been many fictionalized works, from literature to film, that have attempted to document the infamous weekend at Lord Byron’s Lake Geneva cottage, where (among other things) Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN was born. However, none of them have taken as unique an angle as this novel.
The insertion of a new and completely fictional story of Mary Shelley’s Indian housemaid, Mehrunissa Begum, provides a filter for the weekend that is unlike anything we have seen before. The prologue, which is set in 1858, shows a much older Mehr, who has been tracked down by Mary Shelley’s daughter. Jane shares with her the tragic deaths of her father, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron. She also speaks to how her mother never married again.
This brief meeting takes Mehr and readers back to 1815, showing how she came to be in the service of the Shelleys and the part she played that weekend. Mehr travels to London by ship and is separated from her family before she is taken to her new residence as the Shelleys’ housekeeper. She recalls never being able to sleep a full night after being brought aboard.
The household is cast in disarray upon the arrival of Mary’s stepsister, Claire. All of them make their way to Geneva at the behest of Lord Byron for a weekend that will change everyone involved. Byron welcomes them and begins the surreal festivities with talk of the Diodati Demon, named after the chalet where they are staying, as well as other rumored hauntings within the property.
Mehr becomes both mesmerized and repelled by Lord Byron and his guests, particularly Dr. John Polidori, who in turn tempt and frighten her. She is treated as a fellow guest, not as a housemaid, and gets to fully participate in the fever dream of a weekend where everything appears to be both unbelievable and nightmarish. There is a brief reference to FRANKENSTEIN and how it resembled the tale of Prometheus, but the novel focuses more on the participants and the impact that this wild weekend has on each of them. In Mehr’s case, it is an indelible one.
Of course, as many legends have purported, accusations of Lord Byron being an actual vampire arise and are treated with mind-bending speculation. Through Mehr, everything that occurs here is heightened at a level that allows outsiders like us to feel like we are there as well. THE GLOWING HOURS is an eye-opening work that casts a spell over us and never lets go.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet
To chase the Glowing Hours with Flying feet.”
This quote from Lord Byron’s poem, “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage,” opens the action of the appropriately titled THE GLOWING HOURS by Leila Siddiqui. There have been many fictionalized works, from literature to film, that have attempted to document the infamous weekend at Lord Byron’s Lake Geneva cottage, where (among other things) Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN was born. However, none of them have taken as unique an angle as this novel.
The insertion of a new and completely fictional story of Mary Shelley’s Indian housemaid, Mehrunissa Begum, provides a filter for the weekend that is unlike anything we have seen before. The prologue, which is set in 1858, shows a much older Mehr, who has been tracked down by Mary Shelley’s daughter. Jane shares with her the tragic deaths of her father, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron. She also speaks to how her mother never married again.
This brief meeting takes Mehr and readers back to 1815, showing how she came to be in the service of the Shelleys and the part she played that weekend. Mehr travels to London by ship and is separated from her family before she is taken to her new residence as the Shelleys’ housekeeper. She recalls never being able to sleep a full night after being brought aboard.
The household is cast in disarray upon the arrival of Mary’s stepsister, Claire. All of them make their way to Geneva at the behest of Lord Byron for a weekend that will change everyone involved. Byron welcomes them and begins the surreal festivities with talk of the Diodati Demon, named after the chalet where they are staying, as well as other rumored hauntings within the property.
Mehr becomes both mesmerized and repelled by Lord Byron and his guests, particularly Dr. John Polidori, who in turn tempt and frighten her. She is treated as a fellow guest, not as a housemaid, and gets to fully participate in the fever dream of a weekend where everything appears to be both unbelievable and nightmarish. There is a brief reference to FRANKENSTEIN and how it resembled the tale of Prometheus, but the novel focuses more on the participants and the impact that this wild weekend has on each of them. In Mehr’s case, it is an indelible one.
Of course, as many legends have purported, accusations of Lord Byron being an actual vampire arise and are treated with mind-bending speculation. Through Mehr, everything that occurs here is heightened at a level that allows outsiders like us to feel like we are there as well. THE GLOWING HOURS is an eye-opening work that casts a spell over us and never lets go.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
February 8, 2026
Mary Shelley and the Romantic poets with whom she surrounded herself are something of a special interest for me - as they are for a lot of people and presumably many of those who choose to pick up this book. To hear that there was a new Gothic reimagining of the summer where Mary Shelley was inspired to write Frankenstein and that it included a main character who was a POC, I was pretty excited. In fact, despite a long list of books I'd planned to pick up this month, this was promptly pushed to the top of the list, which is why it is such a disappointment to have to rate it this low.
The book was well-researched. I applaud Leila Siddiqui for that. The story was also creative. I really liked what she did with the supernatural elements of her story. It was unique, but I feel as though it could have been executed much more coherently. The spooky elements of the story suffered greatly by a) being too few and b) the book being paced very poorly. By the 50% mark of a book, I think that I should know where it's going, or at least what the point of the book is. I'm down for excitement and strange pivots later in the story, but there should be a story at that point. Instead, it was introduction to our main character and a lot of lead up.
On a personal level, I wasn't too thrilled with the direction Siddiqui chose to take with some of the characters - particularly those based on real people. While I'm all for critique of the likely racist and classist attitudes of the poets, I felt as though there was a particularly unrealistic twist at the end. Additionally, the initial scene of the novel seems awkward and emotionally inauthentic when compared with how things leave off.
I think this book had good bones. Siddiqui is clearly creative, but I found the writing to be inconsistent in quality. Some of the characters were a bit wishy washy in their characterization, and Mehr as a main character was a bit unlikable. I've seen some complain about her snobbery, and that I didn't particularly fault her for. If she grew up in an environment where she was high class and to be respected, it would feel incredibly degrading to be a maid for a ragtag group of broke, disgraced poets who act as though they're better than you. Can you imagine Lord Byron showing any humility if he were in the same situation? I just felt like she handled the whole situation rather stupidly. I wanted her to be crafty and outwit the Big Bad, but she just sort of fumbled into things.
I'm glad I read this and I think that Leila Siddiqui is an author I will try again, because I think that she has potential as an author to tell some really awesome stories.
The book was well-researched. I applaud Leila Siddiqui for that. The story was also creative. I really liked what she did with the supernatural elements of her story. It was unique, but I feel as though it could have been executed much more coherently. The spooky elements of the story suffered greatly by a) being too few and b) the book being paced very poorly. By the 50% mark of a book, I think that I should know where it's going, or at least what the point of the book is. I'm down for excitement and strange pivots later in the story, but there should be a story at that point. Instead, it was introduction to our main character and a lot of lead up.
On a personal level, I wasn't too thrilled with the direction Siddiqui chose to take with some of the characters - particularly those based on real people. While I'm all for critique of the likely racist and classist attitudes of the poets, I felt as though there was a particularly unrealistic twist at the end. Additionally, the initial scene of the novel seems awkward and emotionally inauthentic when compared with how things leave off.
I think this book had good bones. Siddiqui is clearly creative, but I found the writing to be inconsistent in quality. Some of the characters were a bit wishy washy in their characterization, and Mehr as a main character was a bit unlikable. I've seen some complain about her snobbery, and that I didn't particularly fault her for. If she grew up in an environment where she was high class and to be respected, it would feel incredibly degrading to be a maid for a ragtag group of broke, disgraced poets who act as though they're better than you. Can you imagine Lord Byron showing any humility if he were in the same situation? I just felt like she handled the whole situation rather stupidly. I wanted her to be crafty and outwit the Big Bad, but she just sort of fumbled into things.
I'm glad I read this and I think that Leila Siddiqui is an author I will try again, because I think that she has potential as an author to tell some really awesome stories.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Most avid readers know about Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, written in the 19th century. The Glowing Hours by Leila Siddiqui caught my eye when I read the synopsis, spotted the name Mary Shelley, and learned that the story is narrated by her maid, Mehrunissa Begum, called Mehr. I thought, "Well, okkkkaaay. This could be interesting."
Mehr's mother recently passed away, and her last wish was for Mehr to hand deliver her letter of inheritance to her brother in England. When she arrives, her brother is nowhere to be found, and she realizes she won't have money for her return trip. So she takes the only work she can as a maid to Mary and Percy Shelley. Although she's ill-suited for housekeeping, Mary takes a liking to her, and Mehr goes along on their vacation to Lake Geneva to meet with Lord Byron. The summer spent at the villa he's rented is unsettling, to say the least. Even the weather is eerie.
The story is narrated in the third person from Mehr's perspective. I enjoyed her as a main character because she's well-rounded. The rest of the cast also had distinct personalities, but I'd have liked to better understand them overall. However, I only got to know them through Mehr's eyes and thoughts, so it's reasonable that I didn't. I genuinely liked how the author personified the weather. It truly was an ever-present character, especially when things took a dark turn.
The author writes with attention to sensory and bodily details, keeping them grounded in physical reality. The narration stays tight to Mehr's internal experience. The prose reads smooth and modern, clean and straightforward. Overall, it's immersive, tactile, and quietly character-driven, with a realism that makes the looming gothic unease hit harder. The story's threads felt tangled to me as I neared the climax. There was a lot happening, and things could have been made clearer.
The Glowing Hours is an eerily gothic step back in time to the summer that conceived Frankenstein. Both titles deliver the same message — when humans chase power and knowledge without responsibility, they create suffering, only to worsen it by not taking accountability. Siddiqui's writing reminds me of Isabel Cañas's. Readers who enjoyed The Hacienda might appreciate this book. Those who like gothic horror will definitely have fun with this one.
Nerd Rating: 🤓🤓🤓— A dark, weather-soaked gothic tale with bite, even if the threads knot up at the end.
Mehr's mother recently passed away, and her last wish was for Mehr to hand deliver her letter of inheritance to her brother in England. When she arrives, her brother is nowhere to be found, and she realizes she won't have money for her return trip. So she takes the only work she can as a maid to Mary and Percy Shelley. Although she's ill-suited for housekeeping, Mary takes a liking to her, and Mehr goes along on their vacation to Lake Geneva to meet with Lord Byron. The summer spent at the villa he's rented is unsettling, to say the least. Even the weather is eerie.
The story is narrated in the third person from Mehr's perspective. I enjoyed her as a main character because she's well-rounded. The rest of the cast also had distinct personalities, but I'd have liked to better understand them overall. However, I only got to know them through Mehr's eyes and thoughts, so it's reasonable that I didn't. I genuinely liked how the author personified the weather. It truly was an ever-present character, especially when things took a dark turn.
The author writes with attention to sensory and bodily details, keeping them grounded in physical reality. The narration stays tight to Mehr's internal experience. The prose reads smooth and modern, clean and straightforward. Overall, it's immersive, tactile, and quietly character-driven, with a realism that makes the looming gothic unease hit harder. The story's threads felt tangled to me as I neared the climax. There was a lot happening, and things could have been made clearer.
The Glowing Hours is an eerily gothic step back in time to the summer that conceived Frankenstein. Both titles deliver the same message — when humans chase power and knowledge without responsibility, they create suffering, only to worsen it by not taking accountability. Siddiqui's writing reminds me of Isabel Cañas's. Readers who enjoyed The Hacienda might appreciate this book. Those who like gothic horror will definitely have fun with this one.
Nerd Rating: 🤓🤓🤓— A dark, weather-soaked gothic tale with bite, even if the threads knot up at the end.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Thanks to Soho Press / Hell's Hundred for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Glowing Hours follows our FMC, Mehr, who is forced to leave her comfortable life in India following the death of her mother to find her brother to deliver his letter of inheritance. When she can't find him, she finds refuge at a boardinghouse for Indian housemaids, and she gets a job so she can save up money to make the trip back to India. Mehr gets hired by Mary and Percy Shelley and travels with them to Lake Geneva for the summer, joining up with some other people for a "writing retreat." At the villa, while Mary Shelley is writing what eventually becomes Frankenstein, strange things start happening and Mehr watches as the inhabitants of the villa descend into madness.
The first half of the book was definitely a lot slower-paced than the second half. There was a lot of character and world building, which was nice. I was able to familiarize myself with some of the Indian culture that Mehr was used to (prior to moving to Europe to find her brother), and there was a great commentary about classism, racism, and misogyny during this time period. I also got a lot of insight into Mehr's family life, and her struggles within that dynamic.
In the second half of the book, the plot really picks up. We go from this creepy, atmospheric gothic horror into something more intense, with more gore. There were genuinely many creepy moments which I thought were well-written. I did find some parts of the overall plot a bit confusing, but I think by the end it mostly made sense. Part of me wishes there were maybe 50-100 more pages, because of how much happened, and how quickly the last half of the book ended. I think I personally would have benefitted a bit from a little more clarity.
Overall, I enjoyed this a lot and found it to be a pretty solid adult horror debut novel. I love retellings of stories from different POVs, and this one was definitely much more unique than others I've read recently. I have seen reviews criticizing this book because Mary Shelley wasn't more prevalent in the story, and I think those reviewers missed the point a little bit. We can clearly see where the inspiration for Frankenstein comes from, based on Mehr's experiences from the outside looking into the lives of these rich, white artists. It gives a different perspective on the novel and the historical figures involved, which makes it refreshing and unique. While being a retelling, it also is its own story and holds up in its own right. I can't wait to see what Leila Siddiqui comes up with in the future!
The Glowing Hours follows our FMC, Mehr, who is forced to leave her comfortable life in India following the death of her mother to find her brother to deliver his letter of inheritance. When she can't find him, she finds refuge at a boardinghouse for Indian housemaids, and she gets a job so she can save up money to make the trip back to India. Mehr gets hired by Mary and Percy Shelley and travels with them to Lake Geneva for the summer, joining up with some other people for a "writing retreat." At the villa, while Mary Shelley is writing what eventually becomes Frankenstein, strange things start happening and Mehr watches as the inhabitants of the villa descend into madness.
The first half of the book was definitely a lot slower-paced than the second half. There was a lot of character and world building, which was nice. I was able to familiarize myself with some of the Indian culture that Mehr was used to (prior to moving to Europe to find her brother), and there was a great commentary about classism, racism, and misogyny during this time period. I also got a lot of insight into Mehr's family life, and her struggles within that dynamic.
In the second half of the book, the plot really picks up. We go from this creepy, atmospheric gothic horror into something more intense, with more gore. There were genuinely many creepy moments which I thought were well-written. I did find some parts of the overall plot a bit confusing, but I think by the end it mostly made sense. Part of me wishes there were maybe 50-100 more pages, because of how much happened, and how quickly the last half of the book ended. I think I personally would have benefitted a bit from a little more clarity.
Overall, I enjoyed this a lot and found it to be a pretty solid adult horror debut novel. I love retellings of stories from different POVs, and this one was definitely much more unique than others I've read recently. I have seen reviews criticizing this book because Mary Shelley wasn't more prevalent in the story, and I think those reviewers missed the point a little bit. We can clearly see where the inspiration for Frankenstein comes from, based on Mehr's experiences from the outside looking into the lives of these rich, white artists. It gives a different perspective on the novel and the historical figures involved, which makes it refreshing and unique. While being a retelling, it also is its own story and holds up in its own right. I can't wait to see what Leila Siddiqui comes up with in the future!
February 4, 2026
I rated this closer to a 3 1/2 star.
Side note - over the years I've accumulated a slight knowledge of the strange relationship between the Shelleys and Lord Byron, just enough to make this book of particular interest. Plus, I love a good ghost story. Author Leila Siddiqui has done a good job getting us to Villa Diodati near Geneva, which is where the Shelleys and Lord Byron spent several months in the summer of 1816, and where they had their famous story telling challenge?, competition? which begat Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
A young sheltered woman (Mehrunissa) travels from India to England in 1815 and through somewhat sketchy events becomes cut off from family and at the mercy of strangers. Through a benefactor, she miraculously (or mysteriously) is hired on as a maid by Percy & Mary Shelley. The Shelleys become entwined with the charismatic Lord Byron and join him at Villa Diodati. As the weeks go by, Mehrunissa begins to experience strange happenings in the house, and we are never quite sure if these are figments of her overwrought imagination or actually happenings. Things devolve, the house becomes more foreboding and terror begins to affect everyone.
This middle section of the novel is full of creeping horror and jump scares that kept me engrossed. It's good ghost story fodder and well paced. Our main protagonist is a good lens to watch these strange events and entitled people through. She is dealing with her own struggles with misogyny, classism, and racism as she tries to reunite with a lost family member and make a living in a foreign land. She's got a lot going on.
However, I'm not sure I was convinced about how she fell into the hands of the group of greedy and entitled Britains, this really seemed to be colonizer against colonized in a jagged fashion. The end was a little abrupt for me. As the book winds up, I got a little lost in the reasoning or path to the big reveal, and was dissatisfied with the jarring last ten pages or so.
This is an entertaining read and might convince you to read up on the infamous summer in Geneva with Lord Byron and Mary & Percy Shelley.
Recommend not reading when you're alone in the house at night though.
Huge shout out and thank you to Soho Press for the Advance Uncopyedited Edition to review.
Side note - over the years I've accumulated a slight knowledge of the strange relationship between the Shelleys and Lord Byron, just enough to make this book of particular interest. Plus, I love a good ghost story. Author Leila Siddiqui has done a good job getting us to Villa Diodati near Geneva, which is where the Shelleys and Lord Byron spent several months in the summer of 1816, and where they had their famous story telling challenge?, competition? which begat Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
A young sheltered woman (Mehrunissa) travels from India to England in 1815 and through somewhat sketchy events becomes cut off from family and at the mercy of strangers. Through a benefactor, she miraculously (or mysteriously) is hired on as a maid by Percy & Mary Shelley. The Shelleys become entwined with the charismatic Lord Byron and join him at Villa Diodati. As the weeks go by, Mehrunissa begins to experience strange happenings in the house, and we are never quite sure if these are figments of her overwrought imagination or actually happenings. Things devolve, the house becomes more foreboding and terror begins to affect everyone.
This middle section of the novel is full of creeping horror and jump scares that kept me engrossed. It's good ghost story fodder and well paced. Our main protagonist is a good lens to watch these strange events and entitled people through. She is dealing with her own struggles with misogyny, classism, and racism as she tries to reunite with a lost family member and make a living in a foreign land. She's got a lot going on.
However, I'm not sure I was convinced about how she fell into the hands of the group of greedy and entitled Britains, this really seemed to be colonizer against colonized in a jagged fashion. The end was a little abrupt for me. As the book winds up, I got a little lost in the reasoning or path to the big reveal, and was dissatisfied with the jarring last ten pages or so.
This is an entertaining read and might convince you to read up on the infamous summer in Geneva with Lord Byron and Mary & Percy Shelley.
Recommend not reading when you're alone in the house at night though.
Huge shout out and thank you to Soho Press for the Advance Uncopyedited Edition to review.
April 11, 2026
“On with the dance! Let joy be unconfin’d;
No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet
To choose the Glowing Hours with flying feet.” – Lord Byron
That quote from Lord Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage opens the action of the appropriately titled THE GLOWING HOURS from Leila Siddiqui. There have been many fictionalized works, from literature to film, which have attempted to document the infamous weekend at Lord Byron’s Geneva cottage where --- amongst other things --- Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was born. However, none have taken as unique an angle as this novel.
The insertion of a new and complete fictional story of Mary Shelley’s Indian housemaid, Mehrunissa, provides a filter for this weekend that is completely unique to anything we have seen prior. The Prologue set in 1858 shows a much older Mehr who has been located by Jane, daughter of Mary Shelley, Jane shares with her the tragic deaths of her father, Percy Shelley, as well as Lord Byron. She also speaks to how her mother Mary never married again.
That brief meeting takes Mehr and readers back in time to 1815, showing how she came to be in the service of the Shelley’s and the part she played in the weekend with Lord Byron. Mehr travelled to London by ship and was separated from her family before eventually being taken to her new residence as the Shelley’s housekeeper. Once she had settled in there, Mehr recalled how she was never able to sleep a full night after joining their household.
Mehr recalls how the household was cast into disarray upon the arrival of Mary’s stepsister Claire. All of them make their way to Geneva at the behest of Lord Byron for a weekend that would change everyone involved. Byron welcomes them all and begins the surreal festivities with talk of the Diodati Demon, named after the chalet, they are staying in, as well as other rumored hauntings within the property.
Throughout the time there, Mehr becomes both mesmerized and repelled by Lord Byron and his guests, particularly Dr. John Polidori, who in turn tempt and frighten her. Mehr is treated as a fellow guest and not a housemaid and gets to fully participate in the fever dream of a weekend where everything appears to be both unbelievable and nightmarish. There is a brief reference to Mary Shelley’s story and how it resembled the tale of Prometheus, but this novel focuses more on the participants in the wild weekend and the impact it made on each of them. In Mehr’s case, an indelible one.
Of course, as many legends have purported, accusations of Lord Byron having been an actual vampire arise and are treated with mind-bending speculation here. Through the eyes of Mehr, everything that occurs here is heightened at a level that allows outsiders like we readers to feel like we were also there. THE GLOWING HOURS is an eye-opening work that casts a spell over readers and never lets go.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet
To choose the Glowing Hours with flying feet.” – Lord Byron
That quote from Lord Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage opens the action of the appropriately titled THE GLOWING HOURS from Leila Siddiqui. There have been many fictionalized works, from literature to film, which have attempted to document the infamous weekend at Lord Byron’s Geneva cottage where --- amongst other things --- Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was born. However, none have taken as unique an angle as this novel.
The insertion of a new and complete fictional story of Mary Shelley’s Indian housemaid, Mehrunissa, provides a filter for this weekend that is completely unique to anything we have seen prior. The Prologue set in 1858 shows a much older Mehr who has been located by Jane, daughter of Mary Shelley, Jane shares with her the tragic deaths of her father, Percy Shelley, as well as Lord Byron. She also speaks to how her mother Mary never married again.
That brief meeting takes Mehr and readers back in time to 1815, showing how she came to be in the service of the Shelley’s and the part she played in the weekend with Lord Byron. Mehr travelled to London by ship and was separated from her family before eventually being taken to her new residence as the Shelley’s housekeeper. Once she had settled in there, Mehr recalled how she was never able to sleep a full night after joining their household.
Mehr recalls how the household was cast into disarray upon the arrival of Mary’s stepsister Claire. All of them make their way to Geneva at the behest of Lord Byron for a weekend that would change everyone involved. Byron welcomes them all and begins the surreal festivities with talk of the Diodati Demon, named after the chalet, they are staying in, as well as other rumored hauntings within the property.
Throughout the time there, Mehr becomes both mesmerized and repelled by Lord Byron and his guests, particularly Dr. John Polidori, who in turn tempt and frighten her. Mehr is treated as a fellow guest and not a housemaid and gets to fully participate in the fever dream of a weekend where everything appears to be both unbelievable and nightmarish. There is a brief reference to Mary Shelley’s story and how it resembled the tale of Prometheus, but this novel focuses more on the participants in the wild weekend and the impact it made on each of them. In Mehr’s case, an indelible one.
Of course, as many legends have purported, accusations of Lord Byron having been an actual vampire arise and are treated with mind-bending speculation here. Through the eyes of Mehr, everything that occurs here is heightened at a level that allows outsiders like we readers to feel like we were also there. THE GLOWING HOURS is an eye-opening work that casts a spell over readers and never lets go.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
February 6, 2026
3.5* or so.
This was a very strange book. I spent the first half or so wondering where my gothic vibes were, but I found the story (and the main character) interesting enough to keep going. It took me a few attempts to get through the first half of the book, but I read the latter half in one sitting, where the gothic fever dream really kicks off. I found it worth the wait, give or take a few details that seemed out of place and one storyline that resolved too easily, IMO. And, in hindsight, I get why the first half was more historical fiction than gothic fever dream. Fear not, it gets there in the end.
Three comparisons came to mind while I was reading this: The Shining, Haunting of Hill House, and She is a Haunting, with a pinch of We Live Here Now (Pinborough). I won't elaborate too much on that, but I will say that there was less Frankenstein energy as compared to demons/ghosties. I don't usually love having historical figures included in spec fic, but as a former English major, I can see why Siddiqui made this choice. I suspect that my poetry and lit nerd tendencies added to my appreciation of Siddiqui's story, and I can't speak to whether some of the lower ratings for this book have to do with folks being less familiar with the historical figures in question.
In the middle of reading this, I just read Bayron's new Frankenstein-inspired novel. While neither is a true retelling, Siddiqui's book focuses more on the origin of Mary Shelley's novel, and seems to be more focused on engaging with the themes of the novel than on the plot or characters.
So: this is an engaging fever dream that doesn't hold the reader's hand. I will say that in the last, ooh, third of the book, I had no idea WTF was causing all this stuff to happen until the last chapter or so. I can see myself rereading this at some point in the future to see what else I discover along the way. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.
Thank you to NetGalley, and to the publisher for granting my wish for an ARC of this book. :3
This was a very strange book. I spent the first half or so wondering where my gothic vibes were, but I found the story (and the main character) interesting enough to keep going. It took me a few attempts to get through the first half of the book, but I read the latter half in one sitting, where the gothic fever dream really kicks off. I found it worth the wait, give or take a few details that seemed out of place and one storyline that resolved too easily, IMO. And, in hindsight, I get why the first half was more historical fiction than gothic fever dream. Fear not, it gets there in the end.
Three comparisons came to mind while I was reading this: The Shining, Haunting of Hill House, and She is a Haunting, with a pinch of We Live Here Now (Pinborough). I won't elaborate too much on that, but I will say that there was less Frankenstein energy as compared to demons/ghosties. I don't usually love having historical figures included in spec fic, but as a former English major, I can see why Siddiqui made this choice. I suspect that my poetry and lit nerd tendencies added to my appreciation of Siddiqui's story, and I can't speak to whether some of the lower ratings for this book have to do with folks being less familiar with the historical figures in question.
In the middle of reading this, I just read Bayron's new Frankenstein-inspired novel. While neither is a true retelling, Siddiqui's book focuses more on the origin of Mary Shelley's novel, and seems to be more focused on engaging with the themes of the novel than on the plot or characters.
So: this is an engaging fever dream that doesn't hold the reader's hand. I will say that in the last, ooh, third of the book, I had no idea WTF was causing all this stuff to happen until the last chapter or so. I can see myself rereading this at some point in the future to see what else I discover along the way. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.
Thank you to NetGalley, and to the publisher for granting my wish for an ARC of this book. :3
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews