The Making of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

'Invention ... does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos'- Mary ShelleyIn the 200 years since its first publication, the story of Frankenstein's creation during stormy days and nights at Byron's Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva has become literary legend. In this book, Daisy Hay returns to the objects and manuscripts of the novel's genesis in order to assemble its story anew.Frankenstein was inspired by the extraordinary people surrounding the eighteen-year-old author and by the places and historical dramas that formed the backdrop of her youth. Featuring manuscripts, portraits, illustrations and artefacts, The Making of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein explores the novel's time and place, its people, the relics of its long afterlife and the notebooks in which it was created. Hay strips Frankenstein back to its constituent parts revealing an uneven novel written by a young woman deeply engaged in the process of working out what she thought about the pressing issues of her time: science, politics, religion, slavery, maternity, the imagination, creativity and community. This is a compelling and innovative biography of the novel for all those fascinated by its essential, brilliant chaos.

About the author

Daisy Hay is the author of 'Young Romantics: The Shelleys, Byron and Other Tangled Lives' and 'Mr and Mrs Disraeli: A Strange Romance'.

Product details

• Authors: Daisy Hay, Hay Daisy
• Publisher: The Bodleian Library
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.09.2018
• EAN: 9781851244867
• ISBN: 978-1-85124-486-7
• Dimensions: 170 mm x 208 mm x 12 mm
• Series: MAKING OF; The Making of
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > English linguistics / literary studies; Non-fiction book > Art, literature > Biographies, autobiographies; BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Literary Figures, Biography: literary, LITERARY CRITICISM / Gothic & Romance, Biography and non-fiction prose, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers