Title: Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein
Author: Linda Bailey, Júlia Sardà
Genre: Children’s, Picture Book
Publisher: Penguin Random House Canada
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Release Date: August 28, 2018
The inspiring story of the girl behind one of the greatest novels — and monsters — ever, perfectly timed for the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein. For fans for picture book biographies such as I Dissent or She Persisted.
How does a story begin? Sometimes it begins with a dream, and a dreamer. Mary is one such dreamer, a little girl who learns to read by tracing the letters on her mother’s tombstone and whose only escape from her strict father and overbearing stepmother is through the stories she reads and imagines. Unhappy at home, she seeks independence, and at the age of seventeen runs away with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, another dreamer. She travels to Europe and surrounds herself with more poets and writers, including Lord Byron and John Polidori. On a stormy summer evening, Byron suggests a contest to see who can create the best ghost story. After nine months of daydreaming, 21-year-old Mary Shelley’s terrifying tale is published, a novel that goes on to become the most enduring monster story ever — and one of the most popular legends of all time.
A riveting and atmospheric picture book about the young woman who wrote one of the greatest horror novels ever written and one of the first works of science fiction, Mary, Who Wrote Frankenstein is an exploration of the process of artistic inspiration that will galvanize readers and writers of all ages.
I have never read Frankenstein. I tried to read it a few years ago, but I couldn’t get into it. However, I loved this book.
I didn’t realize that Mary Shelley was so young when she wrote the novel. She was only 18 years old! The story was born from a challenge given to a few friends on a trip. They were tasked with writing a ghost story, and Mary’s was so good that it is still talked about more than a century later!
The art in this book was very cool. The illustrations looked like patchwork. The colours were very dark, which suits the subject matter.
This children’s story about Mary Shelley’s life is great. It has inspired me to try reading Frankenstein again.
What to read next:
Frankenstein by Marry Wollstonecraft Shelley
She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger
Have you read Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein? What did you think of it?