Book Review: The Strange True Tale of Frankenstein's Creator Mary Shelley by Catherine Reef

The Strange True Tale of Frankenstein's Creator Mary Shelley by Catherine Reef

Blurb:

On the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein,comes a riveting biography of its author, Mary Shelley, whose life reads like a dark gothic novel, filled with scandal, death, drama, and one of the strangest love stories in literary history.

The story of Frankenstein’s creator is a strange, romantic, and tragic one, as deeply compelling as the novel itself. Mary ran away to Lake Geneva with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley when she was just sixteen. It was there, during a cold and wet summer, that she first imagined her story about a mad scientist who brought a corpse back to life. Success soon followed for Mary, but also great tragedy and misfortune.

Catherine Reef brings this passionate woman, brilliant writer, and forgotten feminist into crisp focus, detailing a life that was remarkable both before and after the publication of her iconic masterpiece. Includes index.

My Review:

Before Josh & I...

Before F. Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald...

There was Mary Wollstonecraft and Percy Bysshe Shelley...

the most dysfunctional couple of their time. (In my opinion).

Let me start by saying that I don't usually read non-fiction books, especially not biographies, but I won a copy of this book from the publisher and it looked really good and was fairly short and I was in a book rut anyway so I dove in... and I couldn't put it down!

I was in awe of Mary Shelley's life. I mean, you know the author, you know her most famous work, but I did not know what she had done to be so universally disliked by her peers. From her parent's backgrounds to her childhood spent hanging out by her mother's grave to running away with a married man, Percy Bysshe Shelley when she was only 16 and the tumultuous life they would live together - I was fascinated! I couldn't get enough. 

I mean their lifestyle, their traveling, their money woes, and Mary's health issues, it was like reading Z by Therese Anne Fowler only 100 years earlier in Europe. These are the type of historical women I look up to, the kind that resonate with me the most. 

Catherine Reef did a wonderful job bringing Mary to life on the page and I recommend this book to everyone familiar with Mary Shelley's life and those that aren't. 

My Rating

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

5 of 5 Stars!