Daughter of earth and water

Neniu kovrilo — Daughter of earth and water (1973, Morrow)

280 paĝoj

Lingvo: English

Eldonita je 12-a de februaro 1973 de Morrow.

Numero OCLC:: 410448

(1 recenzo)

This is a story of love and of genius. Of faith and of rebellion.

Mary Wollstonecraft was fifteen when, in 1813, she met the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. A disciple of Mary’s famous father, the philosopher William Godwin (her mother was the great feminist Mary Wollstonecraft), Shelley himself was only twenty, though he was married and soon to be a father. Mary and Shelley fell in love the next summer; and several months later they ran away together. Thus began one of the most tragic, poignant, and, in all respects, brilliant relationships between a woman and a man that has ever been recorded.

Shelley went on writing the poetry that was to make him one of the immortals. And Mary, as the result of a contest to see who could produce the best tale of the supernatural, wrote the classic Frankenstein. She was nineteen when she completed Frankenstein, which was …

This is a story of love and of genius. Of faith and of rebellion.

Mary Wollstonecraft was fifteen when, in 1813, she met the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. A disciple of Mary’s famous father, the philosopher William Godwin (her mother was the great feminist Mary Wollstonecraft), Shelley himself was only twenty, though he was married and soon to be a father. Mary and Shelley fell in love the next summer; and several months later they ran away together. Thus began one of the most tragic, poignant, and, in all respects, brilliant relationships between a woman and a man that has ever been recorded.

Shelley went on writing the poetry that was to make him one of the immortals. And Mary, as the result of a contest to see who could produce the best tale of the supernatural, wrote the classic Frankenstein. She was nineteen when she completed Frankenstein, which was at first published anonymously because of the prejudice at the time against female writers.

Though they married in 1816, following the suicide of Shelley’s wife, Mary and Shelley were for all their time together considered scandalous for their behaviour; in fact, they were both quite prudish and disapproved, for example, of the celebrated sexual exploits of their friend Lord Byron. Their lives were dogged by tragedy: suicide in both families, the early deaths of their first two children, and, finally, the death by drowning of Percy Bysshe Shelley at the age of twenty-nine.

Mary Shelley was one of the most remarkable and celebrated women of her time, and for all her happiness with her husband, life was not kind to her. But she never went under, and her story is touching, real, inspiring.

1 eldono

Stephanie Jane recenzis Daughter of earth and water de Noel Bertram Gerson

Interesting

3 steloj

I downloaded a copy of this biography of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley by Noel Gerson when I saw it advertised in an Endeavour Press e-mail newsletter last year. The book was first published in the 1970s and has now been re-released as an ebook. I thought it made an interesting companion to Glorious Apollo, the novel about Byron I read recently, as there are crossovers where Byron and the Shelley's lives intertwined. It is also perfect timing for me to read this book now as the Endeavour Press virtual Historical Fiction Festival is taking place this week (18th - 22nd April 2016).

Gerson obviously did a lot of research for Daughter Of Earth And Water so was able to both describe many aspects of her life and to discount theories put forward in previous works. She talks about the inspiration for and writing of Frankenstein (I really must read that one …

I downloaded a copy of this biography of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley by Noel Gerson when I saw it advertised in an Endeavour Press e-mail newsletter last year. The book was first published in the 1970s and has now been re-released as an ebook. I thought it made an interesting companion to Glorious Apollo, the novel about Byron I read recently, as there are crossovers where Byron and the Shelley's lives intertwined. It is also perfect timing for me to read this book now as the Endeavour Press virtual Historical Fiction Festival is taking place this week (18th - 22nd April 2016).

Gerson obviously did a lot of research for Daughter Of Earth And Water so was able to both describe many aspects of her life and to discount theories put forward in previous works. She talks about the inspiration for and writing of Frankenstein (I really must read that one day!) as well as Mary's other novels, stories, translations and poetry. I had no idea that she was such an accomplished and intellectual author, easily the equal of her poet husband. Gerson goes into detail about the scandal of the Shelley's early pre-marriage relationship and the philosophical influence of Mary's father, William Godwin, which enabled her to live such a relatively free life for a woman at that time. I was amazed at, and little jealous of, their extensive European travels, especially as everyone seemed to be permanently on the verge of bankruptcy, but the tragedies they endured would try anyone's sanity.

Gerson's writing style is a little dated as is to be expected and the book is let down by frequent typos which I think are caused by automated reading of faded print in an original copy. Mary's friend Tom Medwin gets renamed Toni Medwin, and letters often start with 'my clear'. None of the typos make the book difficult to understand, but the carelessness is distracting and all the instances would be easy to catch and correct if the final copy had been proofread.

Temoj

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851
Authors, English -- 19th century -- Biography