Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley in Around the World in 80 Books

Jan 27, 2023 superawesomekt rated it it was amazing

Shelves: history-and-bio, audiobook, girls-are-great

4.5 Very good writing and the audiobook performance is excellent.

The classics book club I'm a part of uses a framework for planning the year's reads. Every fall we do a play, every March, Shakespeare. We do a children's classic in May, and every summer we do a big fat book. And, in recent years, we started including a literary biography to read each January. Last year we decided to read some Mary Wollstonecraft in preparation for this dual biography of Mary W. and her (now) more famous daughter 4.5 Very good writing and the audiobook performance is excellent.

The classics book club I'm a part of uses a framework for planning the year's reads. Every fall we do a play, every March, Shakespeare. We do a children's classic in May, and every summer we do a big fat book. And, in recent years, we started including a literary biography to read each January. Last year we decided to read some Mary Wollstonecraft in preparation for this dual biography of Mary W. and her (now) more famous daughter Mary Shelley.

It's really Mary Wollstonecraft who shines in this biography, or at least, she was the one I couldn't get enough of. She was renowned for her independent thinking—Aaron Burr was so inspired by her essays on women's rights that he decided to give his daughter Theodosia a classical education superior to what most boys received in those days. (And, apparently he visited Mary Wollstonecraft's widower William Godwin and dandled little Mary Shelley on his knee, figuratively speaking).

Anyway, if you are interested in this one, I recommend reading excerpts from Vindication of the Rights of Women or some other essay by Mary Wollstonecraft first. But it's definitely not necessary. I listened to the audiobook by Susan Lyons and it was superb. The only confusion is that mother and daughter are both called Mary and the author chose to alternate their stories... a little confusing on audiobook, but eventually you find your way.

As I listened / read this one I thought about how many women's issues there are and ever have been. I thought about how these women tried to find true companionship, financial and spiritual independence and emotional and physical safety in a time when women were very limited legally and socially—marriage could be a trap and a prison, but they had very little status and safety without it.

I'm grateful for the wonderful brain and honest spirit of Mary Wollstonecraft and the influence she had on men and women that led to greater rights for women today.

Highly recommend! ...more

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Jul 28, 2015 Keith rated it it was amazing

I thought this book was Absolutely Wonderful!!!

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Nov 03, 2017 Kay Green rated it really liked it

My rating really was 3.5 stars - but here are all the good things. I knew nothing about these 2 amazing women and really nothing about Percy Shelley or Lord Byron either. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein and her mother was an early feminist writer who advocated for education and freedom for women. They truly lived interesting and unconventional lives and were constantly criticized by the public while they grew famous in their lifetimes. The biography portrayed them as women who saw another path f ...more

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Mar 04, 2023 Antonio Gallo rated it really liked it

Shelves: letteratura, in-inglese, bibliomania, donne, vita, biografia

Romantic Outlaws is a book written by Charlotte Gordon and it is about the extraordinary lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley, two of the most influential women writers of the Romantic period. The book focuses on their tumultuous relationships with each other and the men in their lives, their journeys to freedom and independence, and their trailblazing writing. It also looks at the ways their lives, and works, impacted literature and society. Through compelling narrative and vivid detai ...more

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Mar 02, 2024 Lara rated it it was amazing

Exceptional biography of two incredible women. They lived fast, non-conformist lives that burned bright but not long. Percy Bysshe Shelley died with Mary Shelley was only 25. The book is a page-turner because no one was ever in one place long enough for it to get boring. The lives of the Romantics were romantic but they were also socially isolated and criticized for their unconventional choices, and they suffered so much loss. Children died so easily then. It's a miracle anyone survived to adult ...more

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