In the autumn of 1879, an intelligent, artificially-created being—outwardly a young woman called Maria—arrives in London under the protection of biologist Professor George Hobson. He gathers a few close friends and reveals her existence, explaining that she is the final result of a research programme undertaken by a dynasty of unethical scientists, the von Frakkens. All are now dead… or so it’s thought.
 
Maria’s mutilated creator tracks her down, and she goes on the run, pursued by both her creator and the police. She finds herself at the heart of a raging controversy: some want her jailed, some want her dead, and some want to peel the flesh from her bones.
 
Thrilling and evocative, fantastical and grotesque, The Workshop of Filthy Creation uses a Frankenstein-ian thread to stitch together elements of real scientific history with the darkest parts of Victorian London and speculation on the nature of human life.