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她尚未在這座看似充滿希望的不眠之城找到一方立足之地，雖然每晚都有不同的派對參加，但她在這裡隻身一人，說到底，其實誰也不認識。學生簽證到期在即，而她甚至連買菸的錢都湊不出，時間、金錢、人脈，看似無論哪樣都不站在她這邊，心灰意冷的她此時遇見了年長20歲的Frank，他的成功人生看似一切Cleo缺乏且渴望的總和。
盡情創作的自由、殷實穩定的生活，他為Cleo帶來了重拾快樂的可能；她則給了法蘭克一個往後受藝術與美薰陶的全新生活願景，也許，還給了他一個不再耽溺酒精的理由。
愛情來得猛烈且不計後果，兩人心甘情願地一頭摔進愛河。但一段關係中，有沒有可能幸福與毀滅並存？Cleo的摯友Quentin，視她為超越愛情的靈魂伴侶，卻因愛而不得，終日在性與藥物中自我沉溺；Frank的妹妹Zoe，與Cleo同樣身為身懷抱負，但尚未嶄露頭角的拮据藝術家，卻在兄長結婚後被切斷金援，最終仰賴富有男人包養作為經濟來源。當這段婚姻深深影響並重塑Cleo和Frank，以及兩人身邊的人時，我們是否只能眼睜睜地看著彼此昔日比翼的軌跡逐漸偏離、歪斜，直至墜毀？
寂寞與癮頭，會將我們拖得更近，還是推得更遠？到頭來，即便兩人面對的是同一種孤獨，渴望同一種陪伴，為什麼仍舊沒能將彼此拉近？
幽默、優美，同時令人心碎，新銳作家Coco Mellors創造了一群不討喜卻無比真實的角色，在五光十色的都會燈火下，各自反射著炫目的光，但撥開那層七彩朦朧的煙迷霧障，作者刻劃的，卻是派對散場後，日光燈下無所遁形、於關係中反覆堆疊的挫敗和未解的舊日創傷，何以悄聲無息、無孔不入地滲透，並以最出其不意的方式，重創生活。
For readers of Modern Lovers and Conversations with Friends, an addictive, humorous, and poignant debut novel about the shock waves caused by one couple's impulsive marriage.
‘A tender, devastating and funny exploration of love and friendship and the yearning for self-evisceration. Coco Mellors is an elegant and exciting new voice’ PANDORA SYKES, author of How Do We Know We’re Doing It Right
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.
