Vindicated: A Novel of Mary Shelley
Written as a series of diary entries, Vindicated spans the years between Mary’s life as an idealistic teenager to a woman of nearly 40 who has been hardened by many misfortunes. Mary’s mother, feminist pioneer Mary Wollstonecraft, died when Mary was only a few days old. Wanting to feel some connection to her mother, and needing to sort out her feelings about life, Mary begins to keep a journal. Highly intelligent and raised to be a free thinker, she is also romantic and naïve and quickly falls under the spell of Percy Shelley. Despite already being married, the charismatic, up-and-coming poet convinces her to run away with him and live a bohemian lifestyle. The couple spends the summer with Lord Byron and enters into a storytelling competition that ends up birthing one of the most terrifying novels of all time, Frankenstein.
There are many fictionalized accounts of Mary Shelley’s life, but what makes this one feel so unique and fresh is how deeply it probes into her psyche. The reader can feel Mary’s ache from never knowing her mother, and her yearning to connect with her. The scenes where Mary visits her mother’s grave and imagines talking to her are simultaneously touching and chilling. Also impressive for such a short book is how much Mary changes. Her voice matures from a young woman to a wife in a frustrating marriage, to a mother who faces multiple tragedies. Appropriately, the language in the diary entries dances between poetic, philosophical, and occasionally frightening. This is a beautifully written, engaging novel that will stay with the reader for a long time.
