''Poor Things'' is a novel by Scottish writer

Alasdair Gray Alasdair James Gray (28 December 1934 – 29 December 2019) was a Scottish writer and artist. His first novel, ''Lanark'' (1981), is seen as a landmark of Scottish fiction. He published novels, short stories, plays, poetry and translations, and ...

, published in 1992. It won the

Whitbread Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

and the

Guardian Fiction Prize The Guardian Fiction Prize was a literary award sponsored by ''The Guardian'' newspaper. Founded in 1965, it recognized one fiction book per year written by a British or Commonwealth writer and published in the United Kingdom. The award ran for 33 ...

the same year. The novel was called "a magnificently brisk, funny, dirty, brainy book" by the ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review ...

'' and is a departure from Gray's usual subject-matter of Glasgow realism and fantasy. However, its Victorian narrative takes in Gray's previous concerns with social inequalities, relationships, memory and identity.

Story

The main body of the work centres on Bella Baxter, a woman whose early life and identity are the subject of some ambiguity. That ambiguity is complicated by her husband Archibald McCandless's autobiography, "Episodes from the Early Life of a Scottish Public Health Officer," which distorts the truth about his life with Bella. He claims that she was a corpse, resurrected by McCandless’s colleague, the scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter, who had her brain swapped with that of her unborn foetus, resulting in her having an infant’s mind. While designed to be Baxter’s companion, her sexual appetite causes her to pursue other men, including McCandless and a foppish lawyer named Duncan Wedderburn, with whom she elopes and embarks on a hedonistic odyssey around Europe, Northern Africa, and Central Asia. This narrative is followed by Bella's (or Victoria's) refutation of its facts, suggesting that her "poor fool" of a husband has concocted a life for her from the prevailing gothic and romantic motifs of the period: it "positively stinks of all that was morbid in that most morbid of centuries". This is reinforced by the novel's intricate echoes of

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...

's ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific exp ...

''. These fictitious historical documents are prefaced with an introduction by one Alasdair Gray, who presents himself as the editor of the following text, and relates the "discovery" of the papers by his real-life friends, Michael Donnelly and Elspeth King. The introduction also hosts a critique of Glasgow City Council's treatment of its culture and heritage in the neglect of the local history museum, and a brief mention of Glasgow's time as the European Capital of Culture in 1990, which would be the subject of a more sustained satire in his novel ''

Something Leather ''Something Leather'' is a novel-in-stories by Alasdair Gray which was published in 1990. Its framing narrative is the story of June's initiation into Sadomasochism, sado-masochistic activities by the female operators of a leather clothing shop ...

''.

Film adaptation

A film adaptation of the book is in production with

Yorgos Lanthimos Georgios "Yorgos" Lanthimos ( el, Γιώργος Λάνθιμος, Giórgos Lánthimos, ; born 23 September 1973) is a Greek film director, film producer, screenwriter, photographer, theatre director and former professional basketball player. Sin ...

set to direct and Tony McNamara writing the script. The cast includes

Emma Stone Emily Jean Stone (born November 6, 1988), known professionally as Emma Stone, is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award. In 2017, she ...

Willem Dafoe Willem James Dafoe (; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for four Academy Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, ...

Ramy Youssef Ramy Youssef ( ar, رامي يوسف; ; born March 26, 1991) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and director of full Egyptian descent known for his role as Ramy Hassan on the Hulu comedy series ''Ramy'' (2019–present), for which ...

Margaret Qualley Sarah Margaret Qualley (born October 23, 1994) is an American actress and model. A daughter of actress Andie MacDowell, she trained as a ballerina in her youth. She made her acting debut with a minor role in the 2013 drama film ''Palo Alto (201 ...

and

Mark Ruffalo Mark Alan Ruffalo (; born November 22, 1967) is an American actor and producer best known for playing Bruce Banner / Hulk since 2012 in the superhero franchise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and in the television series '' She-Hulk: Attorn ...

among others. The adaptation is set to be released in theaters on September 8, 2023.

Notes

''Poor Things'' contains illustrations by Alasdair Gray, which the text claims are by the Scottish etcher and illustrator

William Strang William Strang (13 February 1859 – 12 April 1921) was a Scottish painter and printmaker, notable for illustrating the works of John Bunyan, Bunyan, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Coleridge and Rudyard Kipling, Kipling. Early life Strang was bor ...

. There are also punning additions of fragments of images from '' Gray's Anatomy''. One feature of the novel which has also attracted comment is the page of review quotes which also features a printed erratum strip. Some of these reviews are patently fictitious (such as those from the ''Skiberdeen Eagle'' and the ''Private Nose'') and others are attributed to real publications, but seem so harsh that their authenticity is called into question.

Story

Film adaptation

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading