A review by lindseysparks
Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon

3.0

I liked format more in theory than practice, I think. It goes back and forth between Mary W and Mary S, but because they have the same name and many of the other people appear in both threads, it got a little confusing, especially when I'd out the book down and come back it would take a while to adjust. It also was hard to keep track of some people who play minor roles, and are mentioned once vaguely, then you switch to the other storyline, then many pages later that person pops up again with no reference to who they are. Once I sat down and just plowed through it worked, but it just seemed more convoluted than necessary. I did enjoy the dual biography overall and get what she was doing in show parallels in their lives, I think just having a reference list or small clues to remind you who someone was when they hadn't been mentioned in a while would have helped a lot. And it probably would have been fine if I was reading it for study and therefore taking notes as opposed to just for fun. Regardless, I learned a lot about both women and definitely think it's worth the read.