Title: Vindicated: A Novel of Mary Shelley
Category: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Cuidono Press
Author: Kathleen Williams Renk
Publication Date: 2021
Link: https://cuidono.com/Renk_Vindicated.html
Vindicated: A Novel of Mary Shelley by Kathleen Williams Renk is a historical fiction novel from Cuidono Press, an independent press from Brooklyn that specializes in historical and literary fiction. The novel covers Mary Shelley’s life, predominately during her relationship with Percy Bysshe Shelley. The book is written as diary entries covering Mary’s life from her early teen years to her early adult life. It covers her elopement with the poet, the births and deaths of three of her four children, and the process of her writing several of her novels.
Renk’s novel seeks to show the eponymous writer in all of her facets. Much like the monster of her novel, Mary Shelley was composed of many pieces and influences that shaped her brilliant and creative mind.
The novel’s prologue begins with the details of Mary’s birth and talks about her parents. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was a writer and philosopher in the late 18th century who advocated for women’s rights. Although her mother died in the days after giving birth to her, Mary’s tale often harkens back to her mother’s spirit. Recognizing her mother’s influence and teachings helps shape Mary as the intellectual and open-minded person she becomes.
In fact, much of the novel looks at the women who surround Mary and have impact on her writing and her life. While some are minor like the painter Amelia Curran, others have larger impact on her. Her stepsister, Claire Clairmont, for example, represents a major foil for Mary, as Claire could never reach the same internal strength to find a partner who would balance her like Percy, leading to her wasting a lot of time pursuing Lord Byron. Mary is constantly surrounded by women who can feed and support her ideals and writing, or who could provide a look into the kind of person Mary could become if she doesn’t hold to her own self or have her creative outlet.
But of course, the main focus of the novel is the relationship between Mary and Percy, as the diary entries begin when Percy becomes a protégé of Mary’s father and ends with Percy’s untimely death by drowning. The relationship is quite fascinating when viewed through the lens of Mary’s diary. As Mary travels through more of Europe with her husband, suffers the loss of their children, and deals with controversy due to their “scandalous” affair, we see how their relationship can develop over time. Percy at times can be an intellectual and artistic genius who Mary idolizes, or a reckless fool who causes them to move or potentially lose their livelihood. Renk’s novel covers how their relationship can be both fulfilling and stifling.
Vindicated is a fascinating look at the life of Mary Shelley that shows how she was more than just Frankenstein’s author. While there may be a lack of nuance at times, as the diary nature means a lot of moments and emotions are directly laid out to the reader, it is fascinating to see how much of Mary Shelley’s life was influenced by the living and dead around her. It acknowledges how complex she was as a wife, mother, writer, philosopher, and woman, and it presents all of this in a way that makes it easy to see where the stitches are that put her all together.
By Alex Carrigan
Alex Carrigan (@carriganak) is an editor, writer, and critic from Virginia. He has edited and proofed the anthologies CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos and Sourcebook for Creative Writing (C&R Press, 2018) and Her Plumage: An Anthology of Women’s Writings from Quail Bell Magazine (Quail Bell Press & Productions 2019). He has had fiction, poetry, and literary reviews published in Quail Bell Magazine, Lambda Literary Review, Empty Mirror, Gertrude Press, Quarterly West, Whale Road Review, Stories About Penises (Guts Publishing, 2019), Closet Cases: Queers on What We Wear (Et Alia Press, 2020), ImageOutWrite Vol. 9, and Last Day, First Day Vol. 2.