 First edition | |
| Author | Alasdair Gray |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Alasdair Gray |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Press |
Publication date | 1992 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Preceded by | McGrotty and Ludmilla |
Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer is an epistolary novel by Scottish writer Alasdair Gray, published in 1992. It won the Whitbread Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize the same year.[1][2]
A postmodern retelling of the gothic horror novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, the narrative follows the life of Bella Baxter, a surgically fabricated woman created in late Victorian Glasgow. Bella’s navigation of late 19th century society is the lens through which Gray delivers social commentary on patriarchal institutions, social equality, socioeconomic matters and sexual politics.
The novel itself is epistolary, being composed of a fictional novella entitled “Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer”, several extended letters, a spread of original illustrations, as well as an Introduction and Critical Notes. The bracketing Introduction and Critical Notes feature a meta-textual component, in that they simultaneously exist in the novel’s fictional canon, but are also credited to real-life author Alasdair Gray.
The novel is illustrated by Alasdair Gray, despite the text claiming the illustration were created by Scottish painter and printmaker William Strang.
- ^ "Poor Things". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on 19 June 2021.
- ^ "The Guardian Fiction Prize". The Guardian. 27 November 1992. p. 56. Retrieved 29 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.