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A review by laraamaee
In Search of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein by Fiona Sampson
dark
informative
reflective
4.0
I think this book was perfect for someone like me who has in interest in Mary Shelley and Romanticism, but doesn't actually know that much about it (or, didn't, after reading this). I liked Sampson's approach of offering several interpretations of the evidence available, to guess at differing possibilities of what Mary's character was and what her motivations were. I also liked that the novel sort of revolved around Frankenstein, because what a great novel.
I certainly learned a lot of things about Mary that surprised me: her being sent away for long periods as a child, her father's coldness towards her, her vegetarianism, her possible bisexuality(!), how much Percy kept her on a string with his 'free love' beliefs and consequent involvements with many other women (and the parallels between Mary and Harriet, Percy's first wife who was also emotionally—and physically—abandoned and thus committed suicide—like Fanny, Mary's step-sibling who was also left to deal with the family's ruined reputation after Mary's elopement).
Speaking of, Shelley's life really was tragic, right from the outset with her birth killing her mother Mary Wollstonecraft, but Sampson's writing style makes it a compelling read: you can tell she's a poet. A poet handling the story of a writer's life who was raised by writers and surrounded by writers. I guess you can't get more 'literary' than this. Although, I was thrown off at points by Sampson's often confusing syntax/sentence structure/lack of commas and some typographical errors, but after a while I guess I got used to it.
I feel bad for Mary Shelley and that her later life was so overtaken by stress regarding finances and publishing, and the constant restraints put on her by the men in her life. But she really is a complicated figure (I guess, like most biography subjects...)
Nonetheless, this was certainly a useful read for my module this upcoming semester about the Wollstonecraft-Godwin-Shelleys...I just want to know even more!
I certainly learned a lot of things about Mary that surprised me: her being sent away for long periods as a child, her father's coldness towards her, her vegetarianism, her possible bisexuality(!), how much Percy kept her on a string with his 'free love' beliefs and consequent involvements with many other women (and the parallels between Mary and Harriet, Percy's first wife who was also emotionally—and physically—abandoned and thus committed suicide—like Fanny, Mary's step-sibling who was also left to deal with the family's ruined reputation after Mary's elopement).
Speaking of, Shelley's life really was tragic, right from the outset with her birth killing her mother Mary Wollstonecraft, but Sampson's writing style makes it a compelling read: you can tell she's a poet. A poet handling the story of a writer's life who was raised by writers and surrounded by writers. I guess you can't get more 'literary' than this. Although, I was thrown off at points by Sampson's often confusing syntax/sentence structure/lack of commas and some typographical errors, but after a while I guess I got used to it.
I feel bad for Mary Shelley and that her later life was so overtaken by stress regarding finances and publishing, and the constant restraints put on her by the men in her life. But she really is a complicated figure (I guess, like most biography subjects...)
Nonetheless, this was certainly a useful read for my module this upcoming semester about the Wollstonecraft-Godwin-Shelleys...I just want to know even more!