Through the Tempests Dark and Wild

by Angela Barrett

Haunting and deeply moving - a beautifully illustrated, fictionalized account of a formative time in the life of the teenage girl who wrote our most enduring horror story.Long before Mary Shelley published her Gothic masterpiece, Frankenstein, in 1818, at the age of nineteen, she shared fireside ghost tales at the home of family friends in Scotland. It was there that the headstrong girl - orphaned by her mother, spurned by her stepmother, and sent away by her father - spent two of her happiest teenage years. The brooding Scottish landscape and warm family atmosphere so influenced the author’s life and art that some believe her famous novel took root there. To illuminate this period in Mary Shelley’s life, Sharon Darrow skillfully spins fiction from fact. Her words are masterfully matched by Angela Barrett’s exquisite, atmospheric, authentically detailed illustrations. The result is a rich tapestry of stories within stories - those told, those written, and more extraordinary, those lived.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Biography, Nonfiction, History, Victor Frankenstein, Biography Memoir

Hardcover

First published January 6, 2003

About the author

Angela Barrett studied at the Royal College of Art in England with Quentin Blake and is one of Britain’s most highly acclaimed illustrators. She has won the Smarties Book Prize and the W. H. Smith Illustration Award for her work and has illustrated more than twenty-four books for children, including classic tales, fairy tales, biographies, story collections, and picture books. She lives in London.

Reviews

[booklady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent condensed fictionalized account of Mary Shelley's life, especially aspects which most likely contributed to her creation of the great classic, Frankenstein: The 1818 Text. Powerfully illustrated as well.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I previewed this book to gauge its appropriateness for our family.

Mary Shelley had many dark elements of her childhood and this book doesn't sugarcoat that. (Though I suppose it could have been even darker and this book actually did soften it.) However, it is well-written and covers just a brief part of her life.

I felt like it left off at an awkward moment, and continuing the story just for another couple of pages would have been more appropriate, rather than the lengthy afterword. (When I reached the afterword, I actually went back because I assumed that I had accidentally missed a page, or that a page was missing...but no, it was just an odd ending.)

Due to the dark story told by Mary's friend Isabel, her father's treatment of her and some discussion-worthy elements of Mary's story (e.g. eloping with a married man) in the afterword, we will keep this book but use it as a read-aloud or include it with high school reading rather than just put on the shelves now (the kids are in middle grades now).

[LOVEROFBOOKS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the illustrations!

I often buy children's books even though my children are grown. I found this at a used book sale and am glad I bought it because it is an excellent book! I love the illustrations but also the text. It gives a not-too-brief overview of what Mary Shelley's life was like growing up and after she married. It was so good I wanted to seek out Frankenstein and add it to my reading list.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well... Strictly as an overview of the author, Mary Shelley's life this book is excellent and the illustrations are well done. It is a very dark book and though she had difficulties the book seems to highlight the darkness she endured which I find very strange for a children's book. Also, Ms. Shelley's life was hardly one to emulate as she "fell in love" and eloped with a married man. They lost three children and then he later died tragically, as well. While, as an adult, I find these details necessary to tell her life story I just do not think they are appropriate to detail in a children's book. They are in the afterword but that just seems like a continuation in this book more than in other books I've read with afterwords.

[Roxie · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all know Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. This book, with its dark illustrations waiting to grab you (some reaching from the margins) as you hear of the stories of Mary's life and friends and stories of her own, is a beautiful venture.

Read this! Study its pictures! Perhaps you will find restful sleep afterwards...

[Jennifer Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is a children's book, it still contains a vast amount of biographical information. The focus of this fictional account is Mary Shelley's early life in Scotland and her return to England. The verbiage is well-written and the illustrations are truly beautiful. It is a great addition to any library!

[Kimberly Tierney · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s an interesting book that gives kids an introduction to Mary Shelley and her life before creating Frankenstein. While it is semi-biographical it is also partly fictionalized, which the author states up front.

[Hemavathy DM Suppiah-Devi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chronicling the formative years of Mary and the influences on her writing. Lovely prose and visuals.

[Becky R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would be a great resource in an English class.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This beautifully illustrated work off historical fiction focuses on the tragic life of Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein and daughter of philosopher parents Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin. I loved this hauntingly sad true tale and it does what any great writing should do: inspire readers to want more. I can't wait to read more about Mary Shelley and of course her works. The only negative I have with this read, as I so often do with books similar to this, is its format. As a former children's library I know how picture books are often dismissed as baby books (which is completely inaccurate) and older students, which would be this book's target audience, will overlook or flat out dismiss them. Instead publishing in a small chapter book format would have been a better choice.

[callista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I perhaps maybe bawled through the entire Afterword.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives the reader a glimpse into the happiest two years of teenaged Mary Shelley's life. Cast out by her father and stepmother, she spent time in Scotland with friends of the family. It was here that she crafted her talent for storytelling, and had an everlasting impact on her life.

Many people know the story of Frankenstein, but we often look over its development. Mary Shelley lead a strange and at times lonesome life. This book is full of beautiful illustrations and well spun words to create a story unlike any other.

This book would be fun to bring up during a lesson about female authors. There were/are so many talented female writers, and being able to introduce their lives at a time that helped to shape who they were, could be a huge lesson. Students could be able to connect to her family situation, her creativity, and her challenges.

We could also discuss this book around Halloween. So many people think of Frankenstein around Halloween, introducing a book about its author is a natural step.

Grades: 3-7

[raccoon reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a picture book on a short section of Mary Shelley's life. The drawings are very nice and I love the dark colors used throughout them. They certainly do conjure up thoughts of dark woods, solitude, and the mood of Frankenstein. I've read a bit about Shelley but not an official biography so I didn't know about her time spent in Scotland with this family. I do want to read more about Shelley one of these days as her life was certainly scandalous and intriguing. While this book is a "picture" book there are too many words for your typical young child's picture book so look at reading this with or to children old enough to handle so many words and a little bit of spookiness too. I would certainly buy this book for my children (when I have them!) and hope that when they get old enough to read they'd pick it up on their own as well.

[Melanie, Aaron, Annie, and Mary Project · Rating 5 out of 5]

read by: Mary
Author: Sharon Darrow
Illustrator: Angela Barrett
Grade Level: 3-7

This book is a loosely based biography on a short time period of Mary Shelly's life, the creator of Frankenstein. Sharon Darrow wrote the book in a fictional style, while basing it on the time when Mary Shelly spent two years in Scotland and it is believed that her famed novel, Frankenstein, was created. The book shows how during this time Mary Shelly grew as a writer, even though her mother had died and her father sent her away. This is a good book for students to read who are not interested in reading non-fiction since it is a fiction based on fact. The dark pictures bring the readers interest in, along with the story.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This longish picture book tells of a brief period of Mary Shelley’s formative years, spent in flux as an outsider in many regards. Sent away by her father, Mary grew up with the Baxter family in Scotland, where she roamed the craggy shores with the children, Isabel and Robert and told ghost stories and haunted tales. The biography is interspersed with some of the tales the children told, adding an eerie dimension and setting the scene for Mary’s future as creator of Frankenstein. Dark, gothic watercolors and dramatized language also add to the foreshadowing and provide a vivid example of the author’s background and motivations for her later work.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

i realy injoyd reading this book because it tells about
Mary Shelley's life and how hard it was for her .
It beagins with her beaing a little girl and ends with her deaf. Mary shelley's mother died when mary was only 11 days old.once her father got remarried it got realy hard for her and her step mother to live together so her father had to decide between her your his wife he decided to send mary to scotland and after two years mary came back home to her father. when mary was about 17 years old
she got married to a philosopher poet,(Shelley) .
mary started writing a story about frankenstein's monster at just nineteen the idea came to her from a dream she had after reading ghost stories .

[Jennifer Mauser · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have enjoyed this book on multiple occasions and have used it to "whet" the appetite of my children to go on and read Frankenstein. I would consider it historical fiction, and while it is in the format of a picture/storybook, it is more sophisticated to be a read-alone book for the younger set. The reader also encounters some of the difficult situations Mary experienced in her formative years and feels her sense of isolation and abandonment.

The illustrations are poignant, and contribute to the emotional response to the narrative. It is a book I am glad to have in my collection.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book described the 2 years of Mary Shelley's life that she spent living in Scotland with a family there. It was beautifully written but I'm not sure what the point of the book was. The book ended, rather abruptly, I thought, with her sitting down to write a story, and I wasn't sure if the implication was that she was writing Frankenstein or something else. I think a longer book would have been better for this topic.

[Alec · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I am biased, but I think it is important for readers to get to know who famous authors are (or were) as people. I think this book does a pretty good job of that, considering its limited space. What I loved about this book is that it reminds us of the happier times Mary Shelley had with the Baxters and prevents this view of her as being this dark, emotional entity. It reminds us of the phases we go through as people—and artists.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture book for elementary school children will also be enjoyed by older readers. This book focuses on Mary Shelley during her youth when she lived with friends of her parents in Scotland. This time influenced her when she wrote Frankenstein. Darrow's prose brings this story to life. Gray edges and black background intensify the dark intense colors in marvelous illustrations.

[Audry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative peek into Mary Shelley's childhood. Inspiring for young readers and teenagers trying to find independence and confidence in spite of tensions at home and alienation from one's parents or step-parents. Enchanting artwork makes Shelley's life feel like a dark, tragic, but also wonderful fairy tale.

[Kari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaging story of the difficult life of Mary Shelley, author and creator of Frankenstein.
Wonderful

[Melanie Fishbane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this sentence: "In the darkest corner of the room, a tiny tongue of reflected firelight became the glittering eye of the cursed mariner" (3).

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the stories within the story. I liked the illustrations and wished they had been a more focal point to the book. This certainly makes me want to pick up Frankenstein!

[Zahirah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Frankenstein years ago but I remember I was so struck by its balance of science and spirituality. Me, who had never felt deep grief at the time, can understand what the characters are feeling. At the start of the novel I’ve already guessed that the author must have experienced some kind of grief to be able to write like that. This book highlights those influences. I will read Frankenstein again.