For this month’s review, I decided to read The Determined Heart: The Tale of Mary Shelley and her Frankenstein by Antoinette May.
I stumbled across the title some time ago on Amazon and because I’m a huge fan of Mary Shelley’s greatest work, Frankenstein; or, The New Prometheus, I couldn’t pass it by.
Antoinette May meticulously researched Mary Shelley’s diaries and letters as well as articles written about Mary and her famous husband, the poet and philosopher, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Instead of writing a biography, May chose to write a work of historical fiction based on Shelley’s life.
This gives May creative license to elaborate on events and conversations Mary wrote about in her diaries and correspondence. How did she feel and react to certain events? What were her conversations like with her husband, father, stepmother, siblings or children? May imagines how Mary would react – what she would say and how others would respond. And, I have to admit I could relate to her version of Mary Shelley.
Mary’s parents were William Godwin, a political philosopher and the feminist Mary Wollstonecraft (who died shortly after Mary’s birth). Mary had an older half-sister, Fanny, who was Wollstonecraft’s illegitimate daughter from her affair with Gilbert Imlay. Frequently in debt and doubtful of his ability to raise two daughters, Godwin remarried a well-educated widow, Jane Clairmont who had two children of her own, Charles and Claire.
Jane was disliked by Godwin’s friends. She was cold and sometimes hostile to Mary and Fanny, but in spite of her shortcomings, Godwin was devoted to her and their marriage was a happy one. Jane favored her own children and especially doted on Claire.
The Godwin home was a meeting place for philosophers and followers of Godwin’s writings. Mary was intelligent and she was often allowed to listen to their intellectual discussions. One of Godwin’s followers was Percy Bysshe Shelley, a talented young poet and the son of the wealthy nobleman, Sir Timothy Shelley.
When Mary first met “Bysshe” she was 14. He was barely 19, but already married. He and his wife, Harriet were the new parents of a daughter. Bysshe became a financial supporter of Godwin and his interactions with the family were frequent and intimate. Mary, Fanny and Claire were enamored of Bysshe and he enjoyed flirting with them.
May recounts Mary and Bysshe’s romance and his desertion of his pregnant wife and their daughter. Mary who is also pregnant gives birth to a severely premature daughter who only lives a few days. Harriet gives birth to a son who replaces the disgraced Bysshe as the heir to the Shelley fortune.
Living in poverty and disgrace, Mary is humiliated when Bysshe begins a longtime affair with her stepsister Claire.
After Harriet’s suicide, Mary (pregnant for the second time) and Bysshe marry and unsuccessfully try to gain custody of Bysshe’s children and restore Bysshe’s relationship with his father.
Despite the constant turmoil of Mary’s life, she remains committed to writing and intellectual pursuits. When Lord Byron issues a challenge to the guests at his estate to write a “ghost story,” Mary recalls a young medical student who attended one of her father’s gatherings. He spoke of experiments trying to bring cadavers back to life by administering electrical shocks which caused their body parts to twitch and seemingly come back to life. Mary is obsessed with the idea of restoring life to her loved ones. She combines this desire with her memories of the medical student’s experiments and Frankenstein’s monster is born. Her book, written as a horror story, has been hailed as the birth of science fiction (despite the fact her book contains no actual science). Mary is forced to publish her book anonymously because her publisher fears critics and readers won’t accept this type of fiction written by a woman.
The Determined Heart paints a grim picture of English society. The characters seem selfish and immature, but to put things in perspective Percy Bysshe Shelley drowned at 29 and Mary only lived to be 53. In the years she shared with Bysshe (from age 16-25), Mary had five pregnancies. Three children died during infancy/early childhood before their fourth child Percy was born. Percy lived to adulthood (1819-1889). Shortly before Bysshe’s death, Mary suffered a near fatal miscarriage.
Some critics of May’s book have complained that she focuses too much on romance which Mary Shelley, the daughter of a famous feminist, would never be defined by. I respectfully disagree. I know from personal experience that love makes people do stupid things and behave in ways they would never have imagined.
Mary and Bysshe live in world where wealthy men can do whatever they want and women have little if any recourse. Bysshe is the epitome of male privilege - the young, handsome and charming heir to a vast fortune. He was also an accomplished poet, philosopher, and “bad boy” who defied the rules of the society which gave him so much privilege. Even when he is penniless, he manages to live well above his means by borrowing money based on his station and future inheritance. He offers Mary a life of international travel and a chance to socialize with literary greats such as Lord Byron and Edward Trelawney.
Mary gains and keeps her independence after Bysshe’s death. She is able to support herself and her son with the money she earns as a writer. Mary chooses to devote the rest of her life to promoting the work of her late husband and sanitizing his reputation. Frankenstein; or the New Prometheus remains her most successful work and her monster will continue to be one of the most recognizable literary figures of all time.
Antoinette May is also the author of The Sacred Wall, Pilate's Wife, Witness to War, Haunted Houses of California and coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Adventures of a Psychic. In addition, she is an award-winning travel writer specializing in Mexico. Her books are available in local and national bookstores, and online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Photo of Antoinette May and book jacket taken from her website with no copyright infringement intent.
Photo collage featuring Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William “Wilmouse” Shelley and Clara Clairmont - photos taken from the Public Domain: