Mary Shelley

Rating:
Summary: A thorough, well-researched biography
Review: I disagree with my fellow Michigan man who trashes the subject and its author by mentioning "feminist" as if it is a four-letter word.
Those who didn't find this book difficult to follow will discover a well-researched, well-written biography.

Biographies of romantic-era writers can be very difficult, especially if the writer happens to be a woman. If Victorian-era leaders and historians didn't attempt to wipe out the writer's existence altogether, they at least attempted to wipe out parts of them that were not representative of Victorian, ie ultra-conservative, values.
Little is known about the "mother" of science fiction beyond the most outrageous and scandalous aspects of her life, and even those facts were concealed by Mary Shelley's well-meaning family members for more than 100 years.
For what she's been given, Seymour does an excellent job revealing the history and personality behind this writer and if that's considered feminist, I believe that's complimentary.

Rating:
Summary: Difficult to follow
Review: The subject was interesting to me but the author is not easy to read. Her sentence structure is often convoluted, I found myself having to reread many sentences to grasp the meaning. She also refers to people,dates and places in such a way that it is difficult to keep track of what is going on. Finally, her perspective is very sympathetic to MS, its obvious the author is a feminist.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely boring presentation of an interesting life...
Review: This book is very thick and very difficult to read. I do not reccomend this biography because of how confusing it is to read. There are too many dates thrown in here and there and not enough simple facts to keep the reader focused. I have read many biographies but this one must surely rank as the most perplexing! Try another biography of this interesting woman.