Mary Modern, a first novel by Camille DeAngelis, combines elements of the gothic romance, science fiction, suspense, with a literary bent, so I considered this book to be a perfect fit for the RIP Challenge. I first heard about this book on someone else’s book blog just recently, but once again I can’t remember whose it was (I really do need to start keeping track of that!), so if you think your blog is the one I’m thinking of, please let me know so I can link to you.

Anyway, the book was not quite what I expected, although I enjoyed it immensely regardless. Now that I’ve read it, I find it difficult to articulate what I did expect, except perhaps I wasn’t anticipating the strong elements of genre fiction, like the science fiction and suspense. Not that I have any complaints about that, mind you. The novel weaves all of those elements together in a nearly seamless manner.

Lucy Morrigan is a young scientist who lives in a rambling old house that been in her family for generations, surrounded by relics of the past. After her boyfriend, Grey, moves in with her, Lucy’s unsuccessful attempts to get pregnant lead her down an obsessive path that culminates in her cloning her dead grandmother in her basement lab. But instead of a baby, what she creates is a fully-formed adult, whose memories are of the grandmother’s life, whose whole being sees herself as that woman.

How the new Mary tries to align herself with the modern world she finds herself thrust into forms the crux of the novel, but the strained relationship between Lucy and Grey coupled with Lucy’s myopic viewpoint of her actions add to the suspense and feeling of dread that infuses the story. There are some loose threads in the plot and others that I would consider unnecessary and awkward, but all in all this is an engrossing read that kept me entertained and interested in the characters.