Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft & Mary Shelley

It was with some trepidation that I bought this mighty tome, this double biography with alternating chapters on Mary Wollstonecraft and her daughter Mary Godwin, better known as Mary Shelley, I wondered would it work? Well, the answer is a resounding, yes. At first the alternating chapters seem odd, even irritating, and interrupt the flow, but as the book progresses the prevailing influence of Wollstonecraft and her husband William Godwin upon the successive generation becomes more obvious and the structure of the book increasingly relevant. Many prospective readers will know Wollstonecraft as a pioneering author on equal rights for women in daily life. However, her biography is an enthralling story of a thrusting and pioneering woman who set to work very early in life but who seemed prone to disastrous relationships with men, resulting in two suicide attempts. This drove her to ever greater efforts to support herself with her writing; an almost unique ambition for the late 18th century. Perhaps her greatest stroke of luck was to befriend the radical publisher Joseph Johnson, famous for publishing the work of Thomas Paine, William Cowper and Erasmus Darwin, and who stood by Wollstonecraft all her life. Finally Wollstonecraft meets the killjoy Calvinist philosopher William Godwin and embarks upon a unique marriage contract. Perhaps more widely known than her mother these days is Mary Shelley, the second daughter of Wollstonecraft and author of ‘Frankenstein’, the groundbreaking work and most misunderstood book born out of that stormy night in 1816 at Byron’s ‘Villa Diodati’ on the edge of Lake Geneva. The romantic elopement of Mary with the poet Percy Shelley and the flight to Europe in search of a radical new way of living are quite well known, but perhaps less well appreciated is the influence of her mother on both Mary and Shelley. Mary Shelley strove to further the work of her mother not only in ‘Frankenstein’ but in her other copious writing. Again, like her mother she had a difficult relationship with her capricious and restless partner (Shelley was initially already married). The prodigious efforts by Mary to preserve and publish the poetical work of Shelley and the philosophical work of her father is a heartbreaking tale of devotion against very great odds in itself. This is a highly engaging double biography written in a wonderfully lucid style. Despite the subjects being pioneers of the rights of women potential readers should not be put off, these are well rounded and interesting biographies and contain no hint of the boring diatribes one may sometimes encounter around the subject of ‘feminism’. Highly recommended to all interested in biography.

Molto interessante e godibile. Da rileggere.

If I could give this six stars, I would. This is beautifully constructed, well written and impeccably researched.

Fabulous book. Informative, extremely well researched, fun to read - I could hardly put it down.

Nessa biografia dupla, conhecemos detalhes sobre a vida de Mary Wollstonecraft e de sua filha Mary Shelley, duas mulheres que romperam os paradigmas sociais de sua época. Wollstonecraft foi uma das primeiras feministas e escritoras políticas que recebeu por seus escritos e era uma importante editora no auge do iluminismo. Já sua filha, inspirada pelos livros da mãe que morreu por conta do seu nascimento, escreveu um livro tão importante, inovador e brilhante que deu origem a dois gêneros ao mesmo tempo: o terror e a ficção científica. Esse livro me fez chorar, vibrar e me surpreendeu em cada mudança de capítulo (intercalando mãe e filha)! Obrigatório para quem ama o trabalho delas e quer ler histórias inspiradoras de mulheres fortes!