Review: "Romantic Outlaws – The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and her Daughter Mary She

This is a captivating biography of both Mary Shelley and her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft. Because her mother had died when Mary was ten days old, it was not thought that she had much influence on her daughter’s writings but through new discoveries of both their writings, their similarities came to light. Both women were ahead of their time in their writing and lifestyle. Mary Wollstonecraft was in Paris during the revolution. She wrote articles and books on women’s rights and also the rights of the poor. At 16 , Mary Shelley ran away with Percy Shelley, a fellow writer and poet who was married. Most of her stories were also written with the rights of women in mind. Both were not accepted in the main stream of society.

Charlotte Gordon uses an interesting technique in the telling of these two women’s lives. She starts the book at the birth of the daughter and the death of the mother. From there, the story rotates back and forth between the two; she continues on with the daughter’s life and starts at the mother’s birth so their lives are told in parallel. This keeps the story stimulating and also allows the reader to see the similarities between the two.

If you have ever shivered at the horror of “Frankenstein” and wondered about the author, this is the book for you. You will meet and understand Mary Shelley and what inspired this dark story. You will also learn about these two strong women and their struggle to promote women’s rights at a time when this labeled you as an outcast.

This book was requested and reviewed for Edelweiss.