Title: Frankie Baby
Author: Joyce Harrington
Date of First Publication: 1991
Place of Publication: The Ultimate Frankenstein
Type: short story
Characters: No Character
Themes: ANDROID; MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; WOMEN WRITING MONSTERS
Critical Summary: Francesca “Frankie” Stein and Johanna Howard were childhood best friends. Johanna was blonde and blue eyed and sweet. Francesca had dark hair and eyes and a brilliant mind. In childhood, Frankie was mocked and called “The Bride of Frankenstein” because of her unfortunate name but Johanna always defended her. At some point, the two friends made a vow to never marry. The girls grew up and went to college, with Frankie going to medical school and Johanna attending law school. The friendship lasted through the years until Johanna, now working as a Legal Aid attorney decided to get married. Frankie was Johanna’s maid of honor but was noticeably displeased with the wedding. Johanna and Frankie rarely communicated after the wedding. Johanna’s husband worked as a newspaper reporter, and Johanna specialized in prosecuting child abuse cases.
When Johanna was thirty-seven she decided that she wanted to have a baby. Her husband agreed and they began trying. Johanna fell pregnant almost immediately and soon the couple had a beautiful baby girl who Johanna named after Francesca. Francesca sent no baby gift but wrote to her friend that she had established a trust for the child should little Frankie decide to go to medical school.
Life went well for the couple, and when Frankie was three years old Dr. Stein decided to pay a visit to see her namesake. The visit went surprisingly well and the child adored Frankie. Dr. Stein told Johanna and her husband about a gene bank she was starting and asked for the couple’s DNA. The couple saw no reason to refuse and did as Frankie asked. One week after Frankie left, the baby died. Even though little Frankie was given the best care in the hospital, no one was able to help and the baby died within twenty-four hours. Johanna and her husband were devastated, and Johanna developed a deep depression. Not knowing what to do, Johanna’s husband called Dr. Stein, who agreed to come over right away.
When Frankie arrives, she brings a shocking surprise. Frankie had recreated Johanna’s baby in her lab. The child is a mirror image of the dead Frankie and Johanna is thrilled. Johanna’s husband is more suspicious, so he questions Frankie about the child. Frankie does not want him to ask questions, but confirms that she created the girl in a lab, using her own genes as well as Johanna’s and the narrator’s.
When Johanna takes the child to the bathroom, she notices that the girl does not have a belly button. This disturbs Johanna and she confronts Frankie about it. Frankie doesn’t understand why Johanna is disturbed by this. Johanna accuses Francesca of murdering her baby by causing the baby to be infected with a virus or toxin, one that the doctors in the hospital had never seen and couldn’t cure. Johanna murders the child in the bathroom and then tries to kill Frankie, but the doctor shoots her friend and kills her. The narrator, Johanna’s husband, murders Dr. Frankie in retaliation.
This story tells a Frankenstein tale set in modern times, the story of a doctor so blinded by hubris that she commits a horrible atrocity in the name of science. And like Doctor Frankenstein, she pays for it with her life.
Administrative Notes: Grace Glasgow, CSUF; Dr. David Sandner (editing)