Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors: Signature Book Box

Every GiftSmith box is filled with your choice of gorgeous pre-loved book, a literary quote postcard (choose a design and add a handwritten gift message) and bookmark. It's then carefully packaged with beautiful dried wild flowers and dreamy scents.

Build your own unique and personal gift box by adding as many beautiful extra treats as you'd like! The perfect thoughtful gift, delivered straight to their door.

About the book:

An addictive, humorous, and poignant debut novel about the shock waves caused by one couple's impulsive marriage.

New York is slipping from Cleo's grasp. Sure, she's at a different party every other night, but she barely knows anyone. Her student visa is running out, and she doesn't even have money for cigarettes. But then she meets Frank. Twenty years older, Frank's life is full of all the success and excess that Cleo's lacks. He offers her the chance to be happy, the freedom to paint, and the opportunity to apply for a green card. She offers him a life imbued with beauty and art-and, hopefully, a reason to cut back on his drinking. He is everything she needs right now.

Cleo and Frank run head-first into a romance that neither of them can quite keep up with. It reshapes their lives and the lives of those around them, whether that's Cleo's best friend struggling to embrace his gender identity in the wake of her marriage, or Frank's financially dependent sister arranging sugar daddy dates after being cut off. Ultimately, this chance meeting between two strangers outside of a New Year's Eve party changes everything, for better or worse.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein is an astounding and painfully relatable debut novel about the spontaneous decisions that shape our entire lives and those imperfect relationships born of unexpectedly perfect evenings.

Our favourite quote:

'I don't understand this obsession with happiness," she said. "Happiness is like the Hollywood sign. It's big, it's unattainable, and even if you do make it up there, what's there to do but come back down?'