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Angelmonster
Veronica Bennett’s lush reimagining of the life of Mary Shelley — on the eve of her authorship of the classic gothic novel Frankenstein — is a gripping story of love and obsession.
In the spring of 1814, poet Percy Shelley enters the life of young Mary Godwin like an angel of deliverance. Seduced by his radical and romantic ideas, she flees with him and her stepsister to Europe, where they forge a hardscrabble life while mingling with other free-spirited artists and poets. Frowned on by family and society, persecuted by gossip, and plagued by jealousy, Mary becomes haunted by freakish imaginings and hideous visions. As tragedy strikes, not once but time and again, Mary begins to realize that her dreams have become nightmares, and her angel . . . a monster. Now the time has finally come for the young woman who would become Mary Shelley to set her monster free.
In the spring of 1814, poet Percy Shelley enters the life of young Mary Godwin like an angel of deliverance. Seduced by his radical and romantic ideas, she flees with him and her stepsister to Europe, where they forge a hardscrabble life while mingling with other free-spirited artists and poets. Frowned on by family and society, persecuted by gossip, and plagued by jealousy, Mary becomes haunted by freakish imaginings and hideous visions. As tragedy strikes, not once but time and again, Mary begins to realize that her dreams have become nightmares, and her angel . . . a monster. Now the time has finally come for the young woman who would become Mary Shelley to set her monster free.
234 pages, Hardcover
First published October 3, 2005
8 people are currently reading
273 people want to read
About the author
Veronica Bennett
26 books16 followersVeronica Bennett is a children's novelist. Until recently, she worked part-time as an English Lecturer; she now writes fiction full-time. She graduated from University College, Cardiff in 1975 with an Honours degree in English. She began her writing career as a freelance journalist, but soon moved into fiction. Her first book, Monkey, was published in 1998 and was acclaimed by The Times Educational Supplement as "an impressively well-written and audacious debut". Veronica Bennett is married to a university professor and has two children, and currently resides in Middlesex.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
April 23, 2011
I am just going to come out and say that I though this novel was terrible. Not because it was written poorly or because it was unbelievable, but because it just made one feel depressed and dark reading it.
After reading the description, I was excited to read a fictional novel about how Mary and Percy Shelley cam e together, and how Mary received her inspiration for Frankenstein. From page one, however, it was hard to push through the pages. It wasn’t until Percy came in around the second chapter that there was any real reason to be interested. At first, their relationship starts out romantic and ideal for any woman searching for love. However, the novel quickly turns sour after that. Everything turns so dark and negative, that reading the novel actually put me in a dark mood.
Mary and Percy were constantly at odds, stuck with each other and pining for the love they once had, but not actually loving each other. They only seemed to care for each other like old friends who are stuck with each other. It was very depressing to read.
Not to mention, the only straight forth explanation for Frankenstein’s inspiration lasts only a couple of sentences. Of course, the entire novel explains how Mary came to write the novel, but one does not necessarily pick up on that until the end, which is probably the darkest part of the novel.
No happy ending for Angelmonster. I will admit that it was a new and different take on the Shelley’s life, for me anyway, and was interesting to read. As long as you do not expect any optimism or positivity.
After reading the description, I was excited to read a fictional novel about how Mary and Percy Shelley cam e together, and how Mary received her inspiration for Frankenstein. From page one, however, it was hard to push through the pages. It wasn’t until Percy came in around the second chapter that there was any real reason to be interested. At first, their relationship starts out romantic and ideal for any woman searching for love. However, the novel quickly turns sour after that. Everything turns so dark and negative, that reading the novel actually put me in a dark mood.
Mary and Percy were constantly at odds, stuck with each other and pining for the love they once had, but not actually loving each other. They only seemed to care for each other like old friends who are stuck with each other. It was very depressing to read.
Not to mention, the only straight forth explanation for Frankenstein’s inspiration lasts only a couple of sentences. Of course, the entire novel explains how Mary came to write the novel, but one does not necessarily pick up on that until the end, which is probably the darkest part of the novel.
No happy ending for Angelmonster. I will admit that it was a new and different take on the Shelley’s life, for me anyway, and was interesting to read. As long as you do not expect any optimism or positivity.
May 30, 2010
I've had this book on my shelf for a while, but decided to wait until I finished reading Frankenstein. And now that I've had, I'm ready to read this book.
***
Okay, I didn't like this book at all. I got to page 66 when I was like screw it, I'm dropping this thing like a rotten potato. Here are the reasons why:
1) Frankenstein had way better writing, and while this writing is not that bad, it's not that good either.
2) The author changed Mary's history. And while it was okay, and I got why...it's was like the real Mary Shelley had a more exciting and interesting life than that of the Mary Shelley in the book.
3) The way she executed the plot was pure rubbish. It was so over done, and like, "Please..." It was like she was trying way too hard to be like Jane Austen, and did it extremely poorly.
So thats it. I'm dropping this very disappointing rotten potato and never going to pick it up again. I'm sending it straigt back to Half Price Books and pray for those that pick this up and think about reading it.
***
Okay, I didn't like this book at all. I got to page 66 when I was like screw it, I'm dropping this thing like a rotten potato. Here are the reasons why:
1) Frankenstein had way better writing, and while this writing is not that bad, it's not that good either.
2) The author changed Mary's history. And while it was okay, and I got why...it's was like the real Mary Shelley had a more exciting and interesting life than that of the Mary Shelley in the book.
3) The way she executed the plot was pure rubbish. It was so over done, and like, "Please..." It was like she was trying way too hard to be like Jane Austen, and did it extremely poorly.
So thats it. I'm dropping this very disappointing rotten potato and never going to pick it up again. I'm sending it straigt back to Half Price Books and pray for those that pick this up and think about reading it.
August 25, 2009
a fictional, though fairly historically accurate, take on Mary Shelley's early life. Mary falls in love with titled, nearly penniless poet Percy Shelley, and runs away with him. They, and her step-sister Jane/Claire Clairemont, live lives full of poetry and squalid emotional scenes amidst a sea of dead babies, suicides, and affairs. Their lives were amazingly tragic, but Bennett mostly manages to keep the book on an even keel. My one problem with this book was the constant, heavy-handed foreshadowing. For fans of this book, I'd recommend reading Death and the Maidens: The Death of Fanny Wollstonecraft, a non-fiction look at the same family.
August 28, 2018
A fascinating insight into the life of Mary Shelley. Her love for Percy Shelley, their unconventional life together and the tragedies she faced. It a quick and easy read so makes it more enjoyable.
February 28, 2013
I usually refrain from reviewing Young Adult books I don't like, because I know I'm not the book's intended audience. But this novel was so awful, I'm writing a review just to purge it from my mind. BEGONE, Angelmonster! After enjoying The Countess so thoroughly, I wanted to read another novelization of a historical figure's life. I regret that I chose Angelmonster, Veronica Bennett's telling of tumultuous relationship between Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley.
We all know that Mary Shelley was the brilliant woman who wrote Frankenstein at the tender age of twenty. Somehow, she wrote a masterpiece in her spare time while raising small children, living a nomad's life in continental Europe, and babysitting her laudanum-addicted man-child, Shelley. Mary was a voracious reader and a talented writer, but no mention is made of this. Instead, Bennett shows Mary blindly following Shelley across the continent, trading insults with him one moment and then weeping for his attention and fretting that he doesn't love her enough. She seems deranged and needy. That doesn't necessarily make this a bad book--plenty of good books have crazy characters--but it does make the story difficult to swallow. Bennett doesn't show us any good reasons for Mary to stay with Shelley.
And why should the reader stay with this book, when poor pacing makes it an unrewarding chore? The 230 page book covers Mary and Shelley's entire eight-year relationship, but the first hundred pages cover their first year together. The remaining seven years are smashed into 130 dizzyingly hurried pages that can be summarized thus: "I had another baby. The baby died. I fought with Shelley. I am jealous of my sister. We moved again. REPEAT." Mary becomes a blank pawn moving through the events, not a believable character, and it's difficult to care about her. More dialogue and descriptions of day-to-day events would have made this book feel more like a novel and less like a timeline.
Occasionally Bennett does try to write personal interactions, but they feel heavy-handed and strange. Consider this: In the space of a single page, Mary discovers a pregnancy, gives birth to a son, watches him thrive, and sees Shelley's literary reputation grow. A few chapters later, Mary makes an emotional return to her parents' house. She says, "My exile had apparently affected everyone in the house. I was touched, and asked after [the servant's] wife." This servant has never been mentioned until now, so Mary's question doesn't demonstrate strong emotion as much as it demonstrates awkwardness. Why mention this casual question she poses to a servant, but not describe the details of her son's birth, which is obviously much more important? This is just one example of a problem that plagues the entire book.
I imagine that Bennett carefully consulted primary sources to flesh out the dialogue. If there was no historical evidence for a personal exchange, she didn't invent one. That makes for great academic writing, but for a very poor novel. It's fiction--make it interesting! Flesh out the characters and make them your own!
Finally, let's talk about SEX.
Bad love scenes are awkward and icky, and if an author doesn't want to write a love scene, that's fine. But don't make a female character swoon and then suddenly sex is happening to her without her active participation! I feel like this sends the message that female characters shouldn't actively participate in sex or enjoy it. Also, it's creepy! Check this out: "My head felt heavy, and full of some substance that obscured my wits. I could not think. I could not find my conscience... My dress disappeared from my shoulders. I was sure I had not loosened it, nor taken the pins from my hair... I had lost my powers of reasoning. The grass and trees, the churchyard, even the sky disappeared." Rohypnol what?! This scene makes my skin crawl. But Mary runs away with Shelley afterward, so she must have liked it. Right? Right?
Mary Shelley was hardly raised in an oppressive environment. Her mother, Mary Woolstonecraft, was the most radical feminist of the 18th century, and her father supported and published Woolstonecraft's feminist writing. Angelmonster begins with Mary donning a thin white dress and soaking herself head-to-toe before attending a party in her parents' parlor, putting every bit of herself on display. Wet t-shirt/frock contest! Mary seems very comfortable with her body and extremely amorous toward Shelley, so I hardly believe she would have dissociated like Sybil when she finally landed her hunky poet.
This book sucks. Read Frankenstein instead.
We all know that Mary Shelley was the brilliant woman who wrote Frankenstein at the tender age of twenty. Somehow, she wrote a masterpiece in her spare time while raising small children, living a nomad's life in continental Europe, and babysitting her laudanum-addicted man-child, Shelley. Mary was a voracious reader and a talented writer, but no mention is made of this. Instead, Bennett shows Mary blindly following Shelley across the continent, trading insults with him one moment and then weeping for his attention and fretting that he doesn't love her enough. She seems deranged and needy. That doesn't necessarily make this a bad book--plenty of good books have crazy characters--but it does make the story difficult to swallow. Bennett doesn't show us any good reasons for Mary to stay with Shelley.
And why should the reader stay with this book, when poor pacing makes it an unrewarding chore? The 230 page book covers Mary and Shelley's entire eight-year relationship, but the first hundred pages cover their first year together. The remaining seven years are smashed into 130 dizzyingly hurried pages that can be summarized thus: "I had another baby. The baby died. I fought with Shelley. I am jealous of my sister. We moved again. REPEAT." Mary becomes a blank pawn moving through the events, not a believable character, and it's difficult to care about her. More dialogue and descriptions of day-to-day events would have made this book feel more like a novel and less like a timeline.
Occasionally Bennett does try to write personal interactions, but they feel heavy-handed and strange. Consider this: In the space of a single page, Mary discovers a pregnancy, gives birth to a son, watches him thrive, and sees Shelley's literary reputation grow. A few chapters later, Mary makes an emotional return to her parents' house. She says, "My exile had apparently affected everyone in the house. I was touched, and asked after [the servant's] wife." This servant has never been mentioned until now, so Mary's question doesn't demonstrate strong emotion as much as it demonstrates awkwardness. Why mention this casual question she poses to a servant, but not describe the details of her son's birth, which is obviously much more important? This is just one example of a problem that plagues the entire book.
I imagine that Bennett carefully consulted primary sources to flesh out the dialogue. If there was no historical evidence for a personal exchange, she didn't invent one. That makes for great academic writing, but for a very poor novel. It's fiction--make it interesting! Flesh out the characters and make them your own!
Finally, let's talk about SEX.
Bad love scenes are awkward and icky, and if an author doesn't want to write a love scene, that's fine. But don't make a female character swoon and then suddenly sex is happening to her without her active participation! I feel like this sends the message that female characters shouldn't actively participate in sex or enjoy it. Also, it's creepy! Check this out: "My head felt heavy, and full of some substance that obscured my wits. I could not think. I could not find my conscience... My dress disappeared from my shoulders. I was sure I had not loosened it, nor taken the pins from my hair... I had lost my powers of reasoning. The grass and trees, the churchyard, even the sky disappeared." Rohypnol what?! This scene makes my skin crawl. But Mary runs away with Shelley afterward, so she must have liked it. Right? Right?
Mary Shelley was hardly raised in an oppressive environment. Her mother, Mary Woolstonecraft, was the most radical feminist of the 18th century, and her father supported and published Woolstonecraft's feminist writing. Angelmonster begins with Mary donning a thin white dress and soaking herself head-to-toe before attending a party in her parents' parlor, putting every bit of herself on display. Wet t-shirt/frock contest! Mary seems very comfortable with her body and extremely amorous toward Shelley, so I hardly believe she would have dissociated like Sybil when she finally landed her hunky poet.
This book sucks. Read Frankenstein instead.
May 4, 2007
perhaps I am biased by my existing fascination with Mary Shelley's life, but I adored this book. it was tragic, wonderful, and inspiring; but not in an awful Chicken Soup for the Soul way. this is the perfect way to find out a bit about the life of Mary Shelley (incidentally, my hero). this is the perfect bit of easy-to-read background after reading Frankenstein.
January 14, 2025
I bought Anglemonster when I was 13 years old and in the middle of an intense gothic horror/Mary Shelley obsession. It was the first time I had ever used my allowance to buy a brand new book (and a hardcover to boot) outside of a scholastic book fair. It quickly became a favourite and I read it over and over again as a teen.
This is my first reread as an adult. Whilst maybe not the five star read I remember it being, I still enjoyed it and what a fun blast from the past!
This is my first reread as an adult. Whilst maybe not the five star read I remember it being, I still enjoyed it and what a fun blast from the past!
June 17, 2008
I was totally psyched to find this book in the Harvard Book Store basement. Mary Shelley led a fascinating (albeit incredibly sad) life, which I read all about back when I wrote my college thesis. Writing a novel about her elopement with Percy Shelley, the deaths of their kids, the death of his wife, the death of her sister, his death (I said it was really sad), and, of course, the writing of Frankenstein, seemed like it could make a fascinating book. And Veronica Bennett is a college English professor, so presumably she knows her subject matter.
HOWEVER, she just did not have the chops to rise to the task as a writer. (How's that for mixed metaphors?) I was willing to give petulant Mary the benefit of the doubt in the book's opening chapters, anticipating that she would grow and change as a person. But, on the whole, the book read like an 19th century Gossip Girl. Instead of insight into the conversations among Mary, Shelley, Byron, Polidori, and Claire Claremont that led to Frankenstein, we got a lot of angsting over Shelley's wandering eye. Which I'm sure was a concern, but that's only a small part of Mary Shelley's story.
I know that historical fiction sometimes needs to take liberties with the facts. But there's a right way and a wrong way to do it. The most disppointing part of this book was that the author changed when Mary wrote Frankenstein. Instead of having her publish it to great fame and notoriety at age 19 (which everyone knows is the case!), she had Mary wait till after Percy's death to complete it, as some sort of therapeutic, empowering endeavor. Which, aside from being complete bullshit, completely ignores her other book, The Last Man -- which she wrote because, after Percy's death, she felt as lonely as the last person alive on earth.
What frustrates me most is that the author must have known all this. Why she changed it, I cannot fathom. There are the seeds of an awesome book here, and I'm tempted in the very least to seek out Mary's diaries and/or a good biography of her to cleanse the bad taste left in my mouth by this pile of mediocrity.
HOWEVER, she just did not have the chops to rise to the task as a writer. (How's that for mixed metaphors?) I was willing to give petulant Mary the benefit of the doubt in the book's opening chapters, anticipating that she would grow and change as a person. But, on the whole, the book read like an 19th century Gossip Girl. Instead of insight into the conversations among Mary, Shelley, Byron, Polidori, and Claire Claremont that led to Frankenstein, we got a lot of angsting over Shelley's wandering eye. Which I'm sure was a concern, but that's only a small part of Mary Shelley's story.
I know that historical fiction sometimes needs to take liberties with the facts. But there's a right way and a wrong way to do it. The most disppointing part of this book was that the author changed when Mary wrote Frankenstein. Instead of having her publish it to great fame and notoriety at age 19 (which everyone knows is the case!), she had Mary wait till after Percy's death to complete it, as some sort of therapeutic, empowering endeavor. Which, aside from being complete bullshit, completely ignores her other book, The Last Man -- which she wrote because, after Percy's death, she felt as lonely as the last person alive on earth.
What frustrates me most is that the author must have known all this. Why she changed it, I cannot fathom. There are the seeds of an awesome book here, and I'm tempted in the very least to seek out Mary's diaries and/or a good biography of her to cleanse the bad taste left in my mouth by this pile of mediocrity.
September 3, 2009
I originally posted this review on Amazon in 2007, and I felt it should be repeated here.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2010
Wow, I did not like this book at all. I found the writing terrible, the characters inane, and the plot just strange and totally different from what I thought. The story is a teenage romance/drama about Mary Shelley's scandalous life, from age sixteen when she ran off with the poet Shelley when he was already married to having multiple babies and she starts thinking up her own plot (to become Frankenstein) based on demons and stories she's heard. I thought the story would be more fantastical and horrific(led astray by book jacket), and it was in some ways (lots of children die), but I just couldn't bring myself to care.
May 10, 2010
Well, my friend Brittany lent me this book, and I have to say that the plot is very...interesting. If you want to know if I'd recommend this book, I'd say yes and no. It depends. Do you enjoy a sixteen-year-old girl running off to Europe with a man in his twenties and having four kids. If that's the kind of thing you like, then this book is definitely for you. It's a short, easy read--only 233 pages, fairly large print. Personally, it wasn't my favorite book, but I'm sure someone else would enjoy it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2018
I liked this book. It touched me and made me cry by the end. It made me want to know more and read Frankenstein, a classic I have had on my TBR forever.
(I have since read Frankenstein. I knew of Frankenstein of course but never felt the desire to read it that much. I'm glad I did! I loved it!)
(I have since read Frankenstein. I knew of Frankenstein of course but never felt the desire to read it that much. I'm glad I did! I loved it!)
August 13, 2007
-A ruined reputation without a doubt is the only kind to have(Mary, p.55).
October 24, 2018
I read this book back in 2013. I can understand why this is not everyone's cup of tea but I for one did enjoy it. This retelling of Mary Shelley's life is not supposed to be some lighthearted romance or a story where we follow Mary's mind as she writes Frankenstein. This interpretation of her life is to put us in her shoes, her mind set as to why she lived the life she did as well as why she wrote Frankenstein. The feeling of uneasiness that most describe feeling after reading this book is the same reason I loved this book. The emotion and detail used to deliever who she was, was incredible. In order to read this book and appreciate it, i feel the reader should be open to emotional discomfort of different types situations that are described
January 31, 2018
Frankenstein is one of my very favourite classics and having studied Mary Shelley in college, I was excited to read this fictionalised account of her life. I found it to be reasonably accurate from what I remember from my Gothic literature course, though I did find it odd that the author made Mary older when she finally wrote her masterpiece. Surely part of the controversy was that she was so young when she wrote the book?
It's not exactly a cheery book but it's an interesting read for people who, like myself, are fascinated by Mary Shelley.
It's not exactly a cheery book but it's an interesting read for people who, like myself, are fascinated by Mary Shelley.
October 25, 2021
I feel like I've read this book before, but with more detail. That's not to say it's a bad book, there's a lot packed in, and it's got some moments of genuinely lovely writing. But I've read this story before, and I've seen it written better.
October 27, 2017
Enjoyed it.
September 23, 2020
it was good
March 17, 2022
Fascinating topic. Boring read
November 17, 2025
YA—Mary Shelley, et al.
March 23, 2017
A decent enough little read, and reasonably accurate as historical fiction goes.
November 9, 2013
This book details the lives and backdrop behind one of the most famous novels of all time - Frankenstein. It moves through the life of Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) and how events in her life helped develop this monster of fiction.
Beginning when she is sixteen, it briefly details her life before she is introduced to Percy Bysshe Shelley - the catalyst of change in her life. She feels an immediate attraction to this married poet ("her angel") and slowly the infamous love affair begins. However, Mary is not just some lovestruck teenager. A liberal who has grown up surrounded by writers and poets and is herself the daughter of two well known political writers.
As the affair deepens, she decides to run away with Shelley and her step-sister, while already pregnant. The novel details Mary's life with great historical detail as the action moves between Europe and back again toEngland. It details all the pregnancies, losses and the emotional impact it has on this young woman. The author then suppositions what Mary is feeling through these events and how these many threads are slowly being woven together by Mary to form the structure of her novel.
As the various events happen to Mary she experiences dreams or nightmares that hunt her daily life. At each point the author alludes to elements of Mary's novel Frankenstein with happenings in Mary's life. However, the strongest element of this book is Mary and Percy's love. It details how the attraction deepens to love but also the more negative emotions that come with that, such as jealousy. When she is betrayed Mary's desire to write practically bursts out of her. She uses her pain to further her story.
However, despite all the losses and betrayal they remain together, though Percy has now become her "monster". Then the ultimate tragedy occurs and Mary is bereft - she has neither her angel or her monster. She is alone but she uses this to finish the book that has been bubbling along the whole novel.
This is an interesting book, that is rich in historical detail. Mary as a character is wonderfully realised but I felt as a character she is emotionally removed. In contrast Percy and Claire/Jane - Mary's half sister - are practically over wrought. Bennett's interpretation of how Mary feels and how she drew on her own life experiences to create her novel is fascinating. It certainly made me want to go read Frankenstein and Shelley's work.
This novel is a strange beat, part biography and part romance. Mary and Percy's are wonderfully detailed. The inclusion of Mary's dreams and inner monologues are brilliant at drawing together the various inspirations behind Frankenstein. It understands the processes of how an author works. There is, however, a regrettable sense of disconnect throughout the novel as ultimately it is all just supposition on Ms. Bennett's part. It could also be the fault of the historical Mary who is descibed as a rather self contained character, a character that kept her deceased lover and husband's, burned and wrapped in paper, in a drawer beside her personal writings. Interesting, intriguing, but it suffers as by design being only a prelude to the real work - Frankenstein and to a lesser extent Shelley's poetry.
Beginning when she is sixteen, it briefly details her life before she is introduced to Percy Bysshe Shelley - the catalyst of change in her life. She feels an immediate attraction to this married poet ("her angel") and slowly the infamous love affair begins. However, Mary is not just some lovestruck teenager. A liberal who has grown up surrounded by writers and poets and is herself the daughter of two well known political writers.
As the affair deepens, she decides to run away with Shelley and her step-sister, while already pregnant. The novel details Mary's life with great historical detail as the action moves between Europe and back again toEngland. It details all the pregnancies, losses and the emotional impact it has on this young woman. The author then suppositions what Mary is feeling through these events and how these many threads are slowly being woven together by Mary to form the structure of her novel.
As the various events happen to Mary she experiences dreams or nightmares that hunt her daily life. At each point the author alludes to elements of Mary's novel Frankenstein with happenings in Mary's life. However, the strongest element of this book is Mary and Percy's love. It details how the attraction deepens to love but also the more negative emotions that come with that, such as jealousy. When she is betrayed Mary's desire to write practically bursts out of her. She uses her pain to further her story.
However, despite all the losses and betrayal they remain together, though Percy has now become her "monster". Then the ultimate tragedy occurs and Mary is bereft - she has neither her angel or her monster. She is alone but she uses this to finish the book that has been bubbling along the whole novel.
This is an interesting book, that is rich in historical detail. Mary as a character is wonderfully realised but I felt as a character she is emotionally removed. In contrast Percy and Claire/Jane - Mary's half sister - are practically over wrought. Bennett's interpretation of how Mary feels and how she drew on her own life experiences to create her novel is fascinating. It certainly made me want to go read Frankenstein and Shelley's work.
This novel is a strange beat, part biography and part romance. Mary and Percy's are wonderfully detailed. The inclusion of Mary's dreams and inner monologues are brilliant at drawing together the various inspirations behind Frankenstein. It understands the processes of how an author works. There is, however, a regrettable sense of disconnect throughout the novel as ultimately it is all just supposition on Ms. Bennett's part. It could also be the fault of the historical Mary who is descibed as a rather self contained character, a character that kept her deceased lover and husband's, burned and wrapped in paper, in a drawer beside her personal writings. Interesting, intriguing, but it suffers as by design being only a prelude to the real work - Frankenstein and to a lesser extent Shelley's poetry.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2009
This book is one of my favorite book that I ever read because it made me feel as if I were looking at the lives of the people that the book was about. It made me feel as if I were in the book. This book had a mixture of feelings that gave you many thoughts to think about. This book was about this 16-year old girl, whose father owned a book shop and a little house above it. The main character was the 16- year old girl named Mary. Mary had two sisters named Jane and Fanny. Her Papa had accepted Marys mother, who had already had a daughter named Fanny. Then Papa and Mama had Mary, but Mary's mother died giving birth to her. So then Papa had another woman and they had Jane.
One day Mary was fixing Papa's bookshelves. She was up in the ladder putting books in order, that is until she saw this "cute" guy. When she saw this gentleman she pretended as if she was going to fall to the floor, which made the guy get her attention and help her down. Days past and the guy kept on visiting her. One day their parents put a halt to them, so Mary, Jane and Shelley{ the boys name}, escaped. Then Shelley and Mary had many babies, but two of them died. Mary thought that Shelley was her angle, but when she realized that he was lying to her, she realized that her angle was becoming a monster. Mary had discovered that Shelley was married and had 2 kids. People were spreading rumors about them that made the whole town hate them. He had told her that his friend and invited him and Jane, but they left and they stayed there together. Then, one day Shelley and his friends went
shipping, which was their favorite thing to do. There was a storm and the cause was that they all crashed and died. Mary and the wife of one of Shelly's friend cried all day. Then Mary remembered that everyone who once was her angel and monster, had died;Fanny, Shelley, and Shelly's wife.
I would definitely give this book a 5 star, from 1-5. I would recommend people that have hearts and feelings to read this book. This book really makes you look at the real world.
One day Mary was fixing Papa's bookshelves. She was up in the ladder putting books in order, that is until she saw this "cute" guy. When she saw this gentleman she pretended as if she was going to fall to the floor, which made the guy get her attention and help her down. Days past and the guy kept on visiting her. One day their parents put a halt to them, so Mary, Jane and Shelley{ the boys name}, escaped. Then Shelley and Mary had many babies, but two of them died. Mary thought that Shelley was her angle, but when she realized that he was lying to her, she realized that her angle was becoming a monster. Mary had discovered that Shelley was married and had 2 kids. People were spreading rumors about them that made the whole town hate them. He had told her that his friend and invited him and Jane, but they left and they stayed there together. Then, one day Shelley and his friends went
shipping, which was their favorite thing to do. There was a storm and the cause was that they all crashed and died. Mary and the wife of one of Shelly's friend cried all day. Then Mary remembered that everyone who once was her angel and monster, had died;Fanny, Shelley, and Shelly's wife.
I would definitely give this book a 5 star, from 1-5. I would recommend people that have hearts and feelings to read this book. This book really makes you look at the real world.
September 16, 2011
Veronica Bennett reimagines the life of Mary Shelley, author of the novel Frankenstein, in her novel AngelMonster. It is 1814 and Mary is a smart but dreamy 16 year old. She and her sister, Jane, often imagine finding true love with a poet because as Mary remarks, “a poet is the only acceptable sort of lover these days.”
Jane and I had often discussed the possibility of falling in love with a poet. If poetry was any measure of a man, we had observed, everything we longed for in a lover – romance, desire, spirit, soul – was clearly contained in it.
Into Mary’s life (well, her father’s bookshop) walks Percy Shelley. Not yet the super-star poet he was to become he is nevertheless known as someone to watch and certainly meets Mary’s criteria for a lover. And lovers they become, even though Shelley is already (at the tender age of 20) married with children.
AngelMonster is a thoroughly modern tale. It’s kind of like reading a memoir from a current celebrity. It drops names ( Lord Byron and Polidori are companions of Shelley’s) and is full of dalliances and intrigues and twisted love triangles. Young readers, especially those who dismiss poetry and classic fiction as boring, might be intrigued by the flesh and blood people who actually lived and wrote these works that have endured.
Mary herself is an interesting character. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was one of the first feminists and author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women. (Wollstonecraft died a few days after Mary was born.) Her father was the writer and political journalist, William Godwin. Mary herself is clearly intelligent, but youth makes her romantic and dreamy. Still, she wrote Frankenstein when she was just 21. As Bennett writes her, she is young but determined. Her affair with Percy is ill-advised, but she loves him and sticks with him even when he doesn’t deserve it. She is a thoroughly modern creation.
I think AngelMonster would be a great companion to a young adult’s study of the works of Byron, and Percy and Mary Shelley.
Jane and I had often discussed the possibility of falling in love with a poet. If poetry was any measure of a man, we had observed, everything we longed for in a lover – romance, desire, spirit, soul – was clearly contained in it.
Into Mary’s life (well, her father’s bookshop) walks Percy Shelley. Not yet the super-star poet he was to become he is nevertheless known as someone to watch and certainly meets Mary’s criteria for a lover. And lovers they become, even though Shelley is already (at the tender age of 20) married with children.
AngelMonster is a thoroughly modern tale. It’s kind of like reading a memoir from a current celebrity. It drops names ( Lord Byron and Polidori are companions of Shelley’s) and is full of dalliances and intrigues and twisted love triangles. Young readers, especially those who dismiss poetry and classic fiction as boring, might be intrigued by the flesh and blood people who actually lived and wrote these works that have endured.
Mary herself is an interesting character. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was one of the first feminists and author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women. (Wollstonecraft died a few days after Mary was born.) Her father was the writer and political journalist, William Godwin. Mary herself is clearly intelligent, but youth makes her romantic and dreamy. Still, she wrote Frankenstein when she was just 21. As Bennett writes her, she is young but determined. Her affair with Percy is ill-advised, but she loves him and sticks with him even when he doesn’t deserve it. She is a thoroughly modern creation.
I think AngelMonster would be a great companion to a young adult’s study of the works of Byron, and Percy and Mary Shelley.
October 8, 2008
After reading Veronica Bennett's fictional biography of Jane Austen, Cassandra's Sister, I went looking for more of her books.
Thinking that Angelmonster, the fictional account/bio of Mary Shelley, would be just as good, I picked up the book without looking at any reviews-bad idea.
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Angelmonster is the story of Mary Shelley, the author of one of the greatest known horror stories in history.
Mary was the daughter of an English radical, and due to the death of her mother, Mary's upbringing was a bit rough was filled with outrageous ideas.
At the age of sixteen, Mary eloped with Percy Shelley, a young poet.
Though already married, Percy was determined they should be together-no matter the terms or the gossip.
(Mary had two children before she was actually "married".)
After the deaths of her three children, Mary began to write her horror story: Frankenstein!
Mary sought happiness with her "angel", but because of her wrong doings and tragedies, those things turned into a "monster".
.........................................................................................
I did not like this book because of Mary Shelley's choices: eloping and affairs with married men.
But what do you except? From Mary's sad mind came Frankenstein!
Although it's a girl's true story, I wouldn't recommend it.
Thinking that Angelmonster, the fictional account/bio of Mary Shelley, would be just as good, I picked up the book without looking at any reviews-bad idea.
-----------------------------------------
Angelmonster is the story of Mary Shelley, the author of one of the greatest known horror stories in history.
Mary was the daughter of an English radical, and due to the death of her mother, Mary's upbringing was a bit rough was filled with outrageous ideas.
At the age of sixteen, Mary eloped with Percy Shelley, a young poet.
Though already married, Percy was determined they should be together-no matter the terms or the gossip.
(Mary had two children before she was actually "married".)
After the deaths of her three children, Mary began to write her horror story: Frankenstein!
Mary sought happiness with her "angel", but because of her wrong doings and tragedies, those things turned into a "monster".
.........................................................................................
I did not like this book because of Mary Shelley's choices: eloping and affairs with married men.
But what do you except? From Mary's sad mind came Frankenstein!
Although it's a girl's true story, I wouldn't recommend it.
March 20, 2014
This is the story of Mary Shelley, from the time when she was a young girl and falls in love with the married Percy Shelley, through the writing of Frankenstein, completed after Shelley's death.
I had hoped this would be a lot more about Frankenstein than it was, although the idea returns to Mary again and again over the book. I was under the misconception that she had written it during the time she lived at the Villa Diodati with Shelley, Byron, and her half-sister Jane/Claire. It was during this time that she conceived the tale but it was not written until much later.
This novel covers many years of Mary's life, hitting on key scenes that happened months and years apart. At one point toward the end I thought Mary must be much older, then she states how she is now a woman at 23. Of course she had already given birth four times at that point. It was interesting to see how she dealt with first her relationship with a married man, being perceived as an adulterer, and later suspecting her half-sister of consorting with Shelley after they had married. Shelley was portrayed as an opium addict and Byron as a womanizer and spendthrift. Ultimately I did not find any of the characters to be especially likable, but it was interesting to learn about these historical figures.
I had hoped this would be a lot more about Frankenstein than it was, although the idea returns to Mary again and again over the book. I was under the misconception that she had written it during the time she lived at the Villa Diodati with Shelley, Byron, and her half-sister Jane/Claire. It was during this time that she conceived the tale but it was not written until much later.
This novel covers many years of Mary's life, hitting on key scenes that happened months and years apart. At one point toward the end I thought Mary must be much older, then she states how she is now a woman at 23. Of course she had already given birth four times at that point. It was interesting to see how she dealt with first her relationship with a married man, being perceived as an adulterer, and later suspecting her half-sister of consorting with Shelley after they had married. Shelley was portrayed as an opium addict and Byron as a womanizer and spendthrift. Ultimately I did not find any of the characters to be especially likable, but it was interesting to learn about these historical figures.
July 10, 2011
Disappointing novelization of the life of Mary Shelley. Yes, I know the author of 'Frankenstein' had a rough life but, from reading this book, you'd think she'd never had any fun either.
At 16, Mary runs away with the poet, Percy Shelley. The fact that he's already married and broke doesn't stop her. There must have been something between them, some great romance, but Bennett fails to capture it. The reader is left puzzling over why any girl with sense, even an impressionable teenager, would fall for this philandering loser.
By all accounts, Mary Shelley was an impressive person: highly intelligent, attractive, a prolific writer. This also Bennett fails to convey. In her book, Mary comes off as a doormat; someone who just gets impregnated over and over again by a man too irresponsible to feed her properly. The couple sticks together as they litter all of Europe with their dead offspring.
The birth of the novel "Frankenstein" we barely see. Mary talks about 'ideas' but we never see her write anything down. Bennett's choice to present that novel as being published AFTER Percy Shelley's death is another head scratcher. Mary published that novel at age 20. Quite an accomplishment for a young woman and she must have received some money and attention for it but, according to Bennett, Mary was completely dependent on her husband for support.
Overall a big disappointment.
At 16, Mary runs away with the poet, Percy Shelley. The fact that he's already married and broke doesn't stop her. There must have been something between them, some great romance, but Bennett fails to capture it. The reader is left puzzling over why any girl with sense, even an impressionable teenager, would fall for this philandering loser.
By all accounts, Mary Shelley was an impressive person: highly intelligent, attractive, a prolific writer. This also Bennett fails to convey. In her book, Mary comes off as a doormat; someone who just gets impregnated over and over again by a man too irresponsible to feed her properly. The couple sticks together as they litter all of Europe with their dead offspring.
The birth of the novel "Frankenstein" we barely see. Mary talks about 'ideas' but we never see her write anything down. Bennett's choice to present that novel as being published AFTER Percy Shelley's death is another head scratcher. Mary published that novel at age 20. Quite an accomplishment for a young woman and she must have received some money and attention for it but, according to Bennett, Mary was completely dependent on her husband for support.
Overall a big disappointment.
July 28, 2011
Mary Shelley was obviously a terrible judge of character, because apparently everyone around her life used and abused her. This novel suggests, initially, that Shelley is a victim of her own youth and upbringing, and her judgments were based on her desire for Percy Shelley (who should find a special place in Hell, if half of what he did were true).
I'm not sure how much of this is fact or fiction, but it's engaging, nonetheless. The story begins a little slowly and stereotypically (beautiful, strong-willed young woman, anyone?), and gets interesting about a 1/3 of the way through. By that time it is unbelievable what this young woman had to endure. I felt like the author could have done much more with the circumstances and developed Mary into a fuller character, simply based on the events of her life. It's a good story, and I felt like I wanted to know more.
I'm not sure how much of this is fact or fiction, but it's engaging, nonetheless. The story begins a little slowly and stereotypically (beautiful, strong-willed young woman, anyone?), and gets interesting about a 1/3 of the way through. By that time it is unbelievable what this young woman had to endure. I felt like the author could have done much more with the circumstances and developed Mary into a fuller character, simply based on the events of her life. It's a good story, and I felt like I wanted to know more.
December 17, 2014
I did not expect to like this book; I'm not one for romance stories, but seeing as it's based on the true life relationship of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft (Mary Shelley) I had to give it a shot. I know that it's fictionalised, by its written really authentically.
I'm SO pleased I did. What a tale her life was. I was raging at Percy's attitude and actions (I would have sent him running!) but what with the way society was for women at the time and the way Mary wanted things to be.
This was such a brilliant book. I've encouraged loads of people to read it who have been equally surprised by how engaging and involving her story could be.
I'm SO pleased I did. What a tale her life was. I was raging at Percy's attitude and actions (I would have sent him running!) but what with the way society was for women at the time and the way Mary wanted things to be.
This was such a brilliant book. I've encouraged loads of people to read it who have been equally surprised by how engaging and involving her story could be.
August 25, 2007
I guess I never realized how macabre the Shelleys' life together really was. Holy dead babies, Batman!
Pretty awesome book, but I think it'd be the rare teenage boy who could get through those first few chapters with much enthusiasm.
Applause for the nice author's note, though. I always like it when a historical fic author gives you some background or some idea where they might've taken liberties, and where they stuck to the facts. It would've been even more awesome if Bennett had given us some source notes or further reading.
Pretty awesome book, but I think it'd be the rare teenage boy who could get through those first few chapters with much enthusiasm.
Applause for the nice author's note, though. I always like it when a historical fic author gives you some background or some idea where they might've taken liberties, and where they stuck to the facts. It would've been even more awesome if Bennett had given us some source notes or further reading.
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