The Glowing Hours - by Leila Siddiqui (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"Strange how one can find they are an interruption in another person's story . . ."

A mind-bending, revisionist gothic horror story about the fabled summer Mary Shelley began work on Frankenstein, as told by her Indian housemaid. For fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Isabel Cañas, and Kathe Koja.

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 housemaids. 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 housemaid, 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 have their own heartbeat, eerie portraits shift gaze, phantoms appear like houseguests 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.

About the Author

Leila Siddiqui is a Chicago born, Texan raised New Yorker who lives in Queens with her husband. She is also a digital marketing strategist in publishing. When she's not writing, she spends her time worshipping her three very floofy cats, experimenting with vegan recipes from Instagram, and crocheting fun new projects. Her debut YA novel, House of Glass Hearts, was published in September 2021.