- Paperback: 198 pages
- Publisher: Walker Books Ltd (3 Oct 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0744559863
- ISBN-13: 978-0744559866
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 429,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Mary and her sister Jane have always longed for a handsome young poet to whisk them away from their mundane life. Then, in the spring of 1814, Percy Shelley walks into their father's shop, like an angel of deliverance. Seduced by Shelley's radical ideas - equality of the sexes and freedom from the binds of religion - the girls flee with him to Europe. But the life they lead together is frowned on by their family and society. Persecuted by gossip and plagued by jealousy and suspicion, Mary becomes haunted by freakish imaginings. Her children with Shelley begin to die, and though her grief threatens to overwhelm her and her marriage to Shelley, it also gives her the germ of an idea - a story. Then Shelley drowns after a foolish sailing expedition, and Mary knows that it's time to write "Frankinstein".
About the Author
Veronica Bennett graduated from University College, Cardiff. She was an English lecturer for several years before becoming a successfully published children's author. She lives in Middlesex.
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Powerful Book,
By Livvy H "Liv" (England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Angelmonster (Paperback)
Angelmonster is the true story (unfortunately- I didn't realise this until the end) of Mary Shelley- the author of Frankinstein. It tells of her life- from the age of 16, and beautifully portrays her turbulent life, starting with lust, ending with hatred and pain. Veronica Bennet is an excellent author- I remember her from reading Dandelion and Bobcat, and I deeply recommend you read this book if you are interested in historical reads (set in the early 18th century). The only problem with the book is the leaps in time- sometimes missing out several years, without the deep emotion she may be feeling. This is understandable- as the author is trying to write it as true to what actually happened, but it could have done with a little more detail in between. I recommend it for 13 +
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.8 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews) 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Angelmonster,
By John C. Wiegard "Virginia Librarian" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Angelmonster (Hardcover)
This is a well done historical novel for young adults which focuses on the passionate but troubled real life of Mary Shelley. Bennett does not sugarcoat the suffering and social exile that resulted from Mary's love affair (and later, marriage) to Percy Shelley, the scandalous atheist, radical, and poet. We see, however, how Mary harnessed the many demons of her life to create a timeless masterpiece, the novel Frankenstein. Funny that in her lifetime she would be thought of as the wife of that scandalous poet, and now he is discussed as the husband of the brilliant author.
This novel is perhaps best for middle to upper teens, as the subject matter is a bit mature and hard to understand for younger readers. At points, the writing is memorable in re-creating the wild passions and obsessions of Shelleys. portraying them as rebelling against the traditions and dogmas of their time but never quite managing to forge a workable moral code of their own. It is essentially about a beautiful but imperfect love affair, but is also a fascinating portrait of perhaps the first truly modern woman. 5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not Good,
By Nan "Gothic Novel Reader" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Angelmonster (Hardcover)
I'm a grad student in literature, and I've studied Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein many times. I looked forward to reading this book because I liked the idea of a fictionalized history of Mary and Percy's "courtship" and marriage.
*Some degree of spoilers ahead* I was greatly disappointed. Without spoiling the book too much, I felt that it cheated Mary Shelley. Veronica Bennett drastically changes the timeline of Shelley's life in order to use Frankenstein as an allegory of the Shelley marriage. Their marriage was sensational enough--there was no need to make the drastic changes Bennett makes in this novel. All in all, I felt these changes diminished Mary Shelley as artist and intellectual. According to the introduction to one of my copies of Frankenstein (the Norton Critical Edition, 2nd edition), in the years that she took to write the novel, she read nearly 100 books a year--in many different languages. Bennett makes only passing mention of Mary Shelley reading--and then it's just "horrid" novels like Gothics. (Which she may have actually read. That's not what bothers me. Bennett thoroughly ignores the fact that Mary Shelley also read philosophical texts and was well versed in all of the major thinkers of her time.) In this novel, her stepsister reads Jane Austen, but she does not. Bennett completely cuts out all evidence of Mary Shelley's intellect and diminishes her accomplishments as a writer. I don't mind the idea of fictionalizing the life of a famous person, but in this book, Veronica Bennett has reduced Mary Shelley and made her a far less interesting person. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting take on Mary Shelley's life,
By GuavaGirlExtraordinaire - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Angelmonster (Hardcover)
My English class read Frankenstein last year, so I was interested in learning more about the author. This book certainly did not disappoint. I thought it was well-written and fascinating. It was also fast-paced. While the characters would occassionally be a bit over-dramatic, I figured most of this was due to their "romantic" natures. The author did a good job of making the characters, especially Mary, seem like people. It was easy to see Mary as a young girl falling "in love" with the poet Shelley.
All in all, this was a good read. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in history and literature or who simply wants to read a good young adult novel. |
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