Angelmonster

Title:

Angelmonster

Angel monster

Author:

Bennett, Veronica, 1953-

ISBN:

9780763629946

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Physical Description:

234 pages ; 21 cm

General Note:

First published in Great Britain in 2005 by Walker.

Reading Level:

850 Lexile.

Abstract:

Fictionalized story of Mary Godwin, author of the horror classic "Frankenstein, " and her relationship with poet and freethinker Percy Shelley, who ran away to Europe to escape gossip and social ostracism in London, and who endured tragedy and terrible losses repeatedly in her life. In the spring of 1814, poet Percy Shelley enters the life of young Mary Godwin like an angel of deliverance. Seduced by his radical and romantic ideas, she flees with him and her stepsister to Europe, where they forge a hardscrabble life while mingling with other free-spirited artists and poets. Frowned on by family and society, persecuted by gossip, and plagued by jealousy, Mary becomes haunted by freakish imaginings and hideous visions. As tragedy strikes, not once but time and again, Mary begins to realize that her dreams have become nightmares, and her angel . . . a monster. Now the time has finally come for the young woman who would become Mary Shelley to set her monster free.

Subject:

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851 -- Juvenile fiction.

Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 1792-1822 -- Juvenile fiction.

Fiction.

Available:*

Audience	Shelf Location	Material Type	Shelf Number	Current Location
Teen/Young Adult	Fiction	Book	YA FIC BENNETT	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Veronica Bennett's lush reimagining of the life of Mary Shelley -- on the eve of her authorship of the classic gothic novel Frankenstein -- is a gripping story of love and obsession.

In the spring of 1814, poet Percy Shelley enters the life of young Mary Godwin like an angel of deliverance. Seduced by his radical and romantic ideas, she flees with him and her stepsister to Europe, where they forge a hardscrabble life while mingling with other free-spirited artists and poets. Frowned on by family and society, persecuted by gossip, and plagued by jealousy, Mary becomes haunted by freakish imaginings and hideous visions. As tragedy strikes, not once but time and again, Mary begins to realize that her dreams have become nightmares, and her angel . . . a monster. Now the time has finally come for the young woman who would become Mary Shelley to set her monster free.

Author Notes

Veronica Bennett began her writing career as a freelance journalist when her two children were small. She soon moved into fiction, and her first novel was published in 1998. These days, the children are grown,and she works part-time as a college English lecturer. Veronica Bennett lives in England. This is her first book with Candlewick Press.

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 8 Up-This enthralling novel delves into the life of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley during her tempestuous relationship with Percy Bysshe Shelley and explores the basis for writing Frankenstein. While many readers may have heard of the novel, most will be unaware of the underlying theological and philosophical issues with which the author wrestled. Shelley's parents were progressive thinkers, and she was raised to participate in intelligent debate with the poets, novelists, and philosophers of the day. When she was 16, she had an affair with Percy, who was married. Her stepsister accompanied them to Europe, thus beginning a convoluted set of affairs with poet Lord Byron and his friends. The Shelleys faced many tragedies, and both struggled with depression and night terrors. However, the author portrays a great love between them that makes the story as much a romance as a psychological tale. Bennett takes liberty with a couple of events, including when and under what circumstances Frankenstein was written, but, ultimately, readers won't mind. Much as Laurie Halse Anderson does in Speak (Farrar, 1999), the author grabs readers and takes them on a believable journey into a psyche beset with demons.-Cheri Dobbs, Detroit Country Day Middle School, Beverly Hills, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Gr. 10-12. It's not hard to see why British novelist Bennett, whose work has never previously been published in the U.S., was moved to build a novel around Mary Shelley's scandalous life, beginning with Mary's seduction at 16 by married Romantic poet Percy Shelley, and concluding with her completion of Frankenstein. Though never graphic, the plot is both racy and dramatic, incorporating a subsequent, devastating affair between Percy Shelley and Mary's stepsister, suicides, out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and the deaths of three of her four children. Many YAs will recognize the novel's themes of passion and disillusionment, although some readers' attention may flag as the impulsive teen drowning in love transforms into a melancholy, bereaved mother and driven writer. In the end, Bennett's insightful telling will probably be most appreciated by those fresh from classroom studies of Frankenstein. Have nonfiction resources ready, though, because the novel lacks an endnote to clear up lingering questions--e.g., Did Mary really make a memento of the dead Percy's half-charred heart, snatched from his funeral pyre ? --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2006 Booklist

Excerpts

George was still watching me. Boldly I looked back at him. Despite his superiority of title, wealth, sex, and age, the words of an eighteen-year-old girl in a sprigged cotton dress had impressed him. "I have a better idea than cards," he said. His gaze -- penetrating, intelligent, accustomed to his own superiority -- never left my face. None of us spoke. George sat forward in his chair. "Shall we all follow Mary's excellent example," he suggested, "and spend this evening in the company of spirits?" "Capital idea!" exclaimed Polidori. Then, with a frown, "But what do you actually mean, George?" "I mean ghost stories," said George. "Let us each tell one, here in the darkness, with the storm raging outside." My heart was on fire. Many things I had not understood before had linked themselves effortlessly together. Nightmarish visions, dreams that had dogged me day and night for years. The power and glory of the storm. The idea that a scientist might make a creature more monstrous than any God has devised. The earth-shattering possibility that life itself could lie in the ferocity of those sky-sparks that even now crackled their way across the heavens. _______ ANGELMONSTER by Veronica Bennett. Copyright (c) 2006 by Veronica Bennett. Published by Candlewick Press, Inc., Cambridge, MA. Excerpted from Angelmonster by Veronica Bennett All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.