Book Review: In Search of Mary Shelley: The Woman Who Wrote Frankenstein by Fiona Sampson

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

To coincide with the 200th anniversary of the release of Frankenstein, Fiona Sampson examines the inner influences and background of writer Mary Shelley.

I admit I know very little about Mary Shelley other than the fact that she married the famous poet Percy Shelley as a teenager and was widowed at a young age. I have also never read Frankenstein, but nevertheless I was intrigued to see what could possess a woman of this time to write something that is now considered a classic, in an era where women simply weren't encouraged to write 'this kind' of novel.

I found this well researched and thorough. Sampson manages to open up a notoriously private woman's life and fascinating past, where she was surrounded by some great intellectual thinkers of the time. It was great to see who or what influenced Mary to write her story. She manages to bring life to a woman tormented by her many pregnancies and infant deaths, and how her outpouring of grief and redemption comes in th form of writing. At times, these reads almost like a novel, and that's what makes it so engaging. It also flows well. Most chapters set up a scene before dissecting the chapter with various facts and interesting discussions. It's structured in such a way that it doesn't divert from the facts or diverge into various distracting sidestories, which I appreciated.

I do think I would have benefitted from reading Frankenstein before reading this. I think that's the main intention here, and although I gained a lot of insight into Mary Shelley, I would have gained more having read her novel first. I think I would have perhaps been more 'into' this as well having done that, as although I found the overall premise interesting I've found I'm maybe just not as interested in this time period as I am other periods of history. This is purely a personal preference however.

That said, this is a great introduction to Mary Shelley, a character full of intrigue with a fascinating past.

In Search of Mary Shelley is available to purchase now from: Amazon

 - 3 stars