Monster’s Wife Reading at Lancaster University

I’m really looking forward to visiting Lancaster next week to talk about The Monster’s Wife and catch up with old friends. So if you happen to be in County Main next Wednesday at 4pm feeling at a loose end, it would be lovely to see you there! “Our former Creative Writing MA student, Dr Kate Horsley, will be visiting on Wednesday […]

Scottish First Book of the Year Award

I was so thrilled when my publisher at Barbican Press, Martin Goodman, called to tell me I’d been shortlisted for the Scottish First Book of the Year (Saltire) Award. I travelled to Hoy and wrote The Monster’s Wife out of my fascination with Shelley’s novel, with Orkney as place and because of my sense of the developing character of “the Bride”. It was […]

Article in The Scotsman

I was thrilled to wake up to this lovely article by Alistair Munro of The Scotsman: A novel dubbed a sequel to Frankenstein, that tells the story of the monster’s bride, was inspired by a trip to Orkney, the author has said. Kate Horsley, whose debut novel The Monster’s Wife is shortlisted for the Saltire First Book of the Year prize, even set her story […]

The Architect’s Apprentice

It was a real pleasure to be interviewed over at The Architect’s Apprentice. Here’s the interview:   12 | Kate Horsley on retelling Frankenstein, working class characters, and platonic love by The Architect’s Apprentice on Mixcloud

The Monster’s Wife

“A superb debut, an atmospheric and gripping mystery… bursting with the most beautiful and lyrical prose.” K J Wignall, author of The Mercian Trilogy “Startlingly original…brilliantly weird and dark.” Sara Maitland, author of A Book of Silence To a tiny island in Orkney, peopled by a devout community of thirty, comes Victor Frankenstein, driven there by a Devil’s bargain: to make […]

Interview with Female First

Extract from my interview with Lucy Moore at Female First: What made you want to re-envision Frankenstein? About three years ago, I went to see Danny Boyle’s adaptation of Frankenstein, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller alternating in the roles of doctor and creature. There’s a scene in the play where Victor Frankenstein is on Orkney. He stands in a dark room with a naked woman he […]

Reviews of The Monster’s Wife

I’ve read some lovely reviews of The Monster’s Wife so far. It’s really nice to know that reviewers have enjoyed the book. Much of what they’ve said has been really insightful and thought-provoking too. Here are some extracts and links to US and UK reviews on the web: Culturefly Review by Sue Sheard: “an excellent read for the long dark nights of winter. ★★★★★” “Oona […]

Advance Praise from K J Wignall

I’m honoured and touched to have received some fantastic advance praise for The Monster’s Wife from K J Wignall, an author whose work I’ve long admired:   This is a superb debut, an atmospheric and gripping mystery that picks up where the original Frankenstein left off.  But to call it a sequel would do it no justice, because this book is fresh and original, and […]

Advance Praise from Sara Maitland

I’ve just received some amazing advance praise for The Monster’s Wife from one of my favourite authors, Sara Maitland:   That Mary Shelley has a lot to answer for! This is an extraordinary novel, an honourable response (neither venerating nor sneering) to its progenitor, while being startlingly original. Kate Horsley has grounded and voiced her Frankenstein “sequel” in the Orkneys […]

Cover image for The Monster’s Wife

I’m thrilled to bits with this eye-catching cover for my first novel, The Monster’s Wife, due out in July with Barbican Press.  The artwork by Jason Anscomb of Rawshock Design is wonderfully original and at the same time absolutely in the spirit of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, from which my novel draws its inspiration. The Arcimbaldoesque collage of natural objects is […]