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.

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.

By Kinsey

I'd like to start by saying WOW, what a story. I stumbled upon this by chance at a 5-below store in my area for a dollar, and I thought, "Huh. A book about Mary Shelley? Why not?"

It was all I hoped it would be and more. This is a historical fiction recounting of Mary Shelley's rather troubled young life. Historical fiction is not a genre I tend to gravitate towards, but Mary Shelley is one of the most famous and well-known horror writers ever, so I decided to give it a shot, and I was totally astounded.

Mary is a rebellious sixteen year old girl, playing host to several fantasies with her stepsister: flirting with a nobleman or two, plotting marriages, and heck--perhaps even wooing the affections of a dashing young poet! Mary teaches Jane, her stepsister, all she knows about the art of flirtations. After all, the lessons and discomfort that courtship entails could one day pay off!

And indeed it does when Mary happens to be in her father's shop one day when a very interesting man comes calling. Just as Mary imagined, it's a poet, Percy Shelley! Despite his other marital agreements, Shelley is quite taken with Mary, and whisks Mary and Jane away--to her father and stepmother's great displeasure--to Europe, where they live in secret happiness.

The happiness, however, does not last, and Angelmonster becomes a chilling tale colored by Jane, Mary, and Shelley's distress. Readers follow the trio throughout Europe as they run from rumors, despair, and lost passion, and as they struggle to find trust, happiness, and a family together.

On the trip, Mary learns of an alchemist whose fanciful belief in making life from death inspires the now-famous novel, Frankenstein.

Something I quite like about this book is that, despite its romantic nature, the scenes are not at all graphic, descriptive, or steamy. The reader knows that romance is happening, but only because subtle hints are given, and then the author moves on.

Also, Angelmonster is quite accurate in many of its facts about Mary's life. For instance, all the characters are based on real people; none were made up as composite, plot-filling people. The time frame is correct for the story, and it is obvious that the language is well researched, because it is well executed.

A major inaccuracy featured in Angelmonster is the date that Frankenstein was penned. I won't say too much about this, for fear of giving too much away, but Frankenstein was in fact written in 1818, just a year after Mary and Shelley eloped.. Ms. Bennet admits in the author's note that she took creative license with Frankenstein's publication date-one of the benefits of writing historical fiction.

This book is so gripping that I stayed up until one in the morning to finish it. The characters are researched and developed well, and the plot has you begging for more. It is a thoroughly great and unsettling read--not quite a horror novel, as I'd first expected, but it is worth every moment spent reading it.