The Glowing Hours - by Leila Siddiqui (Hardcover)

About the Book

"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 Caänas, 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"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Glowing Hours

A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Pick: Spring 2026 SF, Fantasy & Horror Preview
Ms. Magazine Most Anticipated Feminist Reads of 2026
CrimeReads 27 Horror Novels to Look Forward to in 2026

"The Glowing Hours is a haunting, surreal, and utterly engrossing gothic horror novel that hooked me from the very first page. With her adult debut, Leila Siddiqui has distinguished herself as an incisive and exciting voice in horror."
--Alexis Henderson, author of The Year of the Witching

"With slow-burning terror and creeping dread, Leila Siddiqui's The Glowing Hours conjures a Gothic tale that enthralls as it spirals into the hallucinatory madness of history's most legendary monster-maker and her companions. Dark secrets, ghosts, and the grotesque lurk on every page!"
--Corinne Leigh Clark, coauthor of The Butcher's Daughter: The Hitherto Untold Story of Mrs. Lovett

"Siddiqui masterfully evokes the time period and creates an atmosphere dripping with unease as Mary and Mehr begin to have converging nightmares in their eerie vacation villa. Though the life of Mary Shelley has often been mined for material, Siddiqui brings a fresh perspective through the eyes of the witty and sullen Mehr, whose backstory and fraught relationships with the increasingly entangled Geneva party add to the intrigue. This is a real treat for fans of gothic fiction."
--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Injecting new menace into the history of a beloved horror classic, this is a great suggestion for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic and Donyae Coles's Midnight Rooms or Frankenstein-inspired tales in the vein of Tim McGregor's Eynhallow."
--Library Journal

"A feminist, revisionist exploration of Mary Shelley's troubled past and the cult of fame that surrounds her. Told from the perspective of an Indian immigrant, the novel offers a fresh and compelling lens on the Shelleys' complex history. For fans of Caitlin Starling's The Death of Jane Lawrence and Johanna van Veen's Blood on Her Tongue."
--Booklist

"Scares abound."
--BookRiot

"There's been quite a few takes on that rainy summer when Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in a Swiss villa, but The Glowing Hours takes this historical moment into supernatural territory for my favorite take yet."
--CrimeReads

"Atmospheric and evocative, The Glowing Hours is an eerie and engrossing ode."
--Ms. Magazine

"The summer that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein is one of those stories I will reread in various facets, but Leila Siddiqui's take is especially compelling."
--Literary Hub

"[The Glowing Hours] Reminds us that Romantic literary genius was not created from inert historical matter. Rather, it was born from a world where colonial violence engendered the greatest horrors of all."
--Historical Novel Society

"Terrifying."
--The Lineup

About the Author

Leila Siddiqui was born in Chicago, raised in Texas, and now lives in New York 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 2021.