Decent Mary Shelley biography?

[ShowOfHands]

Can you recommend one?

It's for DD for Christmas. She's 16 and adores Frankenstein, feminism and literature and has asked for lots of books but in particular, wants a good read about Shelley.

There are many out there but would appreciate your recommendations in particular.

Romantic Outlaws is about both Mary Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft (her mother and an important feminist writer, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women, prompted by writers on the Rights of Man who were very clear that they only meant men, especially Rousseau.

It's quite long and detailed but excellent.

The Miranda Seymour one.

Claire Tomalin excels on both Shelley and DM. Shelley died pretty young so DD will
have time to enjoy Mary W (her mum) too

Can I suggest Kathryn Harkup's 'Making the Monster: the science behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'

Sorry pressed send too soon. It's a mix of biography, historical context and the science involved.

Claire Tomalin wrote a biography of Mary Wollstonecraft, not her daughter - and Mary Shelley lived to be 53 (I had thought she lived to be a bit older but I think it's more that what she's remembered for all happened when she was very young).

Romantic Outlaws is by Charlotte Gordon.

Thanks for fixing that - yeh I know re MW but I wrote that so badly, sorry. RIP
Claire T.

I’m getting all the books rec’d on this thread so thank you very much. A fine read up on dark ‘n’ stormy nights awaits.

Er, is there a book on women sci-fi writers? What with us inventing the genre an’ all. Or even a history of sci-fi that doesn’t leave girls out.

In Search of Mary Shelly by Fiona Sampson. Read it a couple of years ago, very good.

These recommendations are brilliant thank you. There's a strong possibility I'll end up getting them all.

DD is doing English, Classics and Philosophy A Levels (plus a couple of others) and her teachers are ardent feminists which has only stoked an existing fire.

She's particularly fond of Shelley (and Wollstonecraft) so your recommendations are great.

'In Search of Mary: The Mother of all Journeys' is good. "Toddler in tow, Bee Rowlatt embarks on an extraordinary journey in search of the life and legacy of the first celebrity feminist: Mary Wollstonecraft. From the wild coasts of Norway to a naked re-birthing in California, via the blood-soaked streets of revolutionary Paris, Bee learns what drove her hero on and what's been won and lost over the centuries in the battle for equality."

I would to know if such a book exists, women with D.C. Fontana who wrote for Star Trek spring to mind.

If she likes Shelley as well, then I absolutely recommend The Young Romantics, by Daisy Hay. Great book.

And for women writing in scifi, How to suppress Women's writing by Joanna Truss is written by a female SF writer and explains the barriers. It's done with a lot of humour and energy.