
By Linda Bailey, Júlia Sardà (Illustrator)
Part of the Who Wrote Classics series
A young dreamer conjures a legendary monster story on a stormy night.
Mary, a young dreamer, escapes her strict home life through stories. At sixteen, she runs away with poet Percy Shelley. In Switzerland, a ghost story contest with Lord Byron sparks her imagination. A waking dream leads to the creation of a legendary monster tale. Discover how Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' was born from a night of storytelling and a vivid imagination, becoming one of the most enduring horror stories ever. This atmospheric tale explores the journey of a young woman who dared to dream and write a story that would captivate generations.
The inspiring story of the girl behind one of the greatest novels – and monsters – ever, perfectly timed for the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein. For fans for picture book biographies such as I Dissent or She Persisted. How does a story begin? Sometimes it begins with a dream, and a dreamer. Mary is one such dreamer, a little girl who learns to read by tracing the letters on the tombstone of her famous feminist mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, and whose only escape from her strict father and overbearing stepmother is through the stories she reads and imagines. Unhappy at home, she seeks independence, and at the age of sixteen runs away with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, another dreamer. Two years later, they travel to Switzerland where they meet a famous poet, Lord Byron. On a stormy summer evening, with five young people gathered around a fire, Byron suggests a contest to see who can create the best ghost story. Mary has a waking dream about a monster come to life. A year and a half later, Mary Shelley’s terrifying tale, Frankenstein: or, the Modern Prometheus, is published – a novel that goes on to become the most enduring monster story ever and one of the most popular legends of all time. A riveting and atmospheric picture book about the young woman who wrote one of the greatest horror novels ever written and one of the first works of science fiction, Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein is an exploration of the process of artistic inspiration that will galvanize readers and writers of all ages.
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