mementomortis 's review for:

Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein by Kathryn Harkup

4.0

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I recently reread Frankenstein and I really enjoyed this adding historical context to why Frankenstein became a classic and how the science of the time were perfect for creating the science fiction genre. Most of the time when reading classics I feel like we assume a lot about how people must’ve felt based on like stereotypes of the time so it’s interesting actually KNOWING what the mentality of the time was. Obviously I knew Mary wrote Frankenstein during a getaway with her husband and Lord Byron but I didn’t know he was the one who offered her Percy’s heart after his death which she famously kept until her death. I didn’t know she essentially died in debt and was never fully able to gain financial success from her book despite its popularity. I didn’t know that when she was my age she had not only written Frankenstein but had already had and lost 4 children. I knew her mother was an early feminist but not her fathers MANY connections to popular scientist of the time which definitely influenced the science Victor Frankenstein was up to in the novel. I didn’t know most modern day depictions of Frankenstein can trace their imagery back to a musical.

Mary Shelley you will always be famous