Hideous Love: The Story of the Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein (23 page)

Captain Roberts sees

the ship take leave

and watches some ominous clouds

form on the horizon.

After an hour,

through his telescope Roberts

views a storm come up

and swears he saw the ship

take down its topsails.

But I’m not sure,

for without a deck

and with sails hard to bring down,

even a small but sudden

gust of wind could upset the
Ariel
.

And my Shelley cannot swim.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

.....................................................................

THE MEN HAVE NOT RETURNED

July 11, 1822

Claire, Jane, and I

grow more anxious

than mothers of ailing infants.

A letter arrives

from Hunt confirming

that the
Ariel
left Livorno in a storm.

Leigh Hunt wants news

of the travelers’ safe arrival.

The suspense is as dreadful

as a nest of vicious cobras.

Jane fears the worst.

Even though I have not left

the villa for nearly a month,

and look more like

a ghost than a woman,

Jane and I depart for Pisa

immediately

and head to Byron’s.

Byron provides no news

except that Edward, Shelley,

and Charles Vivian had sailed

the previous Monday in a storm.

We cannot stop to rest,

but take a carriage to Livorno

in search of Trelawny and Captain Roberts.

Roberts tries to assure us

that he saw the topsails

being taken down, though

it must have been hard

to view anything for certain

in the haze of the storm.

Trelawny escorts us back to Lerici.

I feel as though

I shall go into convulsions.

As we cross the river

I fear I slog through

my lover’s grave.

Trelawny goes searching

for the men

and when we hear nothing

I gain a bit of hope.

No hope

only death,

as the sad news

finally reaches us

that three bodies

have been discovered.

Trelawny identified Shelley

by the volume

of Keats’s poems

found on his person.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

.....................................................................

SHELLEY’S CALL

August 1822

I can faintly hear

my lover’s long-ago call

to join him

so that we shall never

be separated,

but united in death.

No laudanum

can bring back

my Shelley

and I cannot abandon

my child.

I close off

like a coffin lid has slid

over my senses.

Everyone sings praises of Shelley.

I find a bit of comfort in this.

I write to my father that

I feel my Shelley is ever with me.

I must live to be good and wise,

then I will deserve to join

Shelley some day.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

.....................................................................

A FUNERAL

August 16, 1822

As I paralyze in grief,

Trelawny arranges the funeral.

Williams and Shelley

will be exhumed from

the graves on the beach

where they were found,

and they will be cremated.

As my father could not bear

to attend my mother’s funeral,

I cannot be present at my love’s burial.

I stay at home and write

a letter to Maria Gisborne.

I lament the fact that

Shelley and I were fighting

on the day he left

and that I begged him to stay.

I feel guilt and sorrow.

I miss my love

more than I can express.

Thank goodness for my little

Percy.

Shelley’s friends built a portable

crematorium

and brought frankincense,

salt, wine, and oil to sprinkle

on the bodies.

Trelawny said that

the scenery on the shore

was as lonely and grand

as Shelley’s poetry.

He and Byron and Hunt

imagined that Shelley’s spirit

soared above them.

Byron swam out to his boat,

the
Bolivar
, while Leigh Hunt

remained in the carriage

and Trelawny watched

Shelley’s body burn for four hours.

The flames were incandescent

as was Shelley, and they consumed

all of him, except his heart.

I keep Shelley’s heart

close to me always,

preserved in wine and stored

in my portable writing desk.

Whenever I need

inspiration or motivation

my dear love’s remains

will remind me

that I now have not only

my parent’s legacy to consider

but also my Shelley’s.

I must keep alight his flame.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

.....................................................................

ELEGY FOR MY SHELLEY

1822

We built a world of words

and yet none satisfy now.

If you are ash

where do I store my heart?

If you are buried

who will teach our child

to say “yes”

in a foreign tongue?

If you are spirit

who will craft poems

that awaken the soul?

If you are memory

what lighthouse

calls your ship to shore?

I vow to lay down my life

to make your name known.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

.....................................................................

AUTHOR’S NOTE

“Beware; for I am fearless and therefore powerful.”

—Mary Shelley from
Frankenstein

I love
Frankenstein
because of its gothic origins, its human values, its indelible characters, and its enduring heart. Many things compel an author to write a book, but in the case of
Hideous Love
, what most drew me to the subject matter was Mary’s youth and indomitable spirit. A woman of intellect, highly respected now as one of the important writers of her time, Mary broke the mold. She wrote a masterpiece of the English language in her teens. Her life challenged her with its tragedies and strife, and yet, fearlessly, she never gave up. When she left home and traveled with Shelley, a chest of her early writings was lost. This book was inspired in part by the idea that other tales of Mary’s adventures were lost along her tangled path.

After the tragic loss of Shelley, Mary spent much of her life compiling his work. In 1839, when his father finally lifted his prohibition against publishing Shelley’s writings, Mary brought out an annotated collection of her husband’s poetry. Her work helped to establish Percy Bysshe Shelley as one of the greatest poets of his period and of English literature in general. Mary never again married but devoted her life to writing, to raising her son, Percy, and to the promotion of Shelley’s work. She also continued to support her father financially. Mary died from a brain tumor in 1851 at the age of fifty-three.

Without question Mary’s most iconic and popular work, both during her lifetime and after her death, has been
Frankenstein
. The most universally read version is the 1831 edition of the novel, which Mary revised and to which she added her own introduction, though among scholars there has been some resurgence in reading the original 1818 text. Despite mixed and, sometimes, less than laudatory reviews,
Frankenstein
was a bestseller of its day. The book was even turned into a stage play during Mary’s life—the equivalent of becoming a movie today.
Frankenstein
throughout its history has been published in hundreds of editions and is often required reading in high schools and colleges.

I believe this book endures not only because of its multiple themes, its lyrical writing, its feminist principles, and its science fiction origins, but also because it creates universal and intricate characters and situations. The book causes the reader to think with gravity about the nature of life. It also bridges an important place in literary history—the transition from gothic eighteenth-century literature into the realism championed by novels of the nineteenth century. Now nearly two hundred years old,
Frankenstein
still pervades our culture, from movies to postage stamps to cereal boxes to Halloween costumes. Say Frankenstein to a young child and the vision of a monster comes to mind, just as it did for Mary that dark and rainy summer night in 1816. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and her monster of a book fearlessly pioneered a new type of novel, one that powerfully withstands the test of time.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

.....................................................................

CAST OF CHARACTERS
AND FAMOUS FIGURES

(in order of appearance)

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT GODWIN SHELLEY is best known as the author of
Frankenstein
and as the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley.

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT GODWIN is the mother of Mary Shelley and Fanny Imlay. She was a political philosopher of the late 1700s. Often considered the first feminist, she authored the book
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
. She died eleven days after she gave birth to Mary.

WILLIAM GODWIN is Mary’s father and the father of William Godwin Jr. He made his name with his philosophical work
Enquiry Concerning Political Justice
, but wrote and published in many other formats as well, including fiction.

MARY JANE CLAIRMONT becomes Mary’s stepmother when Mary is four. She is the mother of Charles Clairmont, Clara Jane Clairmont, and William Godwin Jr.

FANNY IMLAY GODWIN is Mary’s older half-sister. They have the same mother, and after their mother’s death William Godwin raises Fanny as though she is his daughter and gives Fanny his last name.

CHARLES CLAIRMONT is Mary’s older stepbrother. Mary Jane Clairmont is Charles’s mother.

CLARA JANE CLAIRMONT (FIRST KNOWN AS JANE, BUT LATER KNOWN AS CLAIRE CLAIRMONT) is Mary’s stepsister. Only a few months younger than Mary, Claire plays a crucial role in Mary’s love life.

WILLIAM GODWIN JR. is Mary’s younger half-brother. William Godwin is his father and Mary Jane Clairmont is his mother.

ISABELLA BAXTER is one of Mary’s dearest childhood friends. Mary lives with her family when she is sent to Dundee, Scotland, at fourteen. Mary also becomes close with Isabella’s sister, Christina. Isabella Baxter marries David Booth.