The Lady and Her Monsters
A Tale of Dissections, Real-Life Dr. Frankensteins, and the Creation of Mary Shelley's Masterpiece
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- $189.00
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- $189.00
Descripción editorial
The Lady and Her Monsters by Roseanne Motillo brings to life the fascinating times, startling science, and real-life horrors behind Mary Shelley’s gothic masterpiece, Frankenstein.
Montillo recounts how—at the intersection of the Romantic Age and the Industrial Revolution—Shelley’s Victor Frankenstein was inspired by actual scientists of the period: curious and daring iconoclasts who were obsessed with the inner workings of the human body and how it might be reanimated after death.
With true-life tales of grave robbers, ghoulish experiments, and the ultimate in macabre research—human reanimation—The Lady and Her Monsters is a brilliant exploration of the creation of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s horror classic.
But what was the real-life science that sparked one of literature’s most enduring horror stories?
A Shocking History of Science: Explore the intersection of the Romantic Age and the Industrial Revolution, where daring scientists and anatomists pushed the boundaries of life and death.Real-Life Frankensteins: Meet the actual researchers like Luigi Galvani and Giovanni Aldini, whose ghoulish experiments with electricity on corpses directly inspired Victor Frankenstein.Grave Robbers and Body Snatching: Delve into the macabre underworld of the “resurrection men,” the professional body snatchers who supplied medical schools with cadavers for their shocking research.The Birth of a Masterpiece: Uncover the fascinating story of Mary Shelley herself—surrounded by luminaries like Percy Shelley and Lord Byron—and how she wove cutting-edge science and real-life horror into her iconic gothic novel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Montillo's debut, a macabre romp through 18th and 19th century Europe, illuminates the circumstances and inspiration behind one of gothic literature's most notorious tales. Walking a fine line between historical fact and logical conjecture, the book deftly weaves details of Mary Shelley's early life into the cultural and scientific map of the time in which she was writing. Grim body snatchers, cadaver-carving surgeons, and nefarious alchemists litter the pages. In her retelling of the genesis story of Frankenstein, Montillo offers a constellation of personalities that surrounded Shelley during her hasty writing of the tale. Heavily referencing letters and personal journals, Montillo analyzes Shelley's literary cohorts, providing insight into the motives of her famous literary companions, the haunted Percy Shelley and womanizing Lord Byron. The picture painted provides much room for speculation, stripping long-embellished versions of the story down to the verifiable facts. Who really gave Shelley the technical know-how to write what she did? What were the true origins of her long-standing depression? Fraught with suicides, superstitions, natural disasters, and love affairs, the life of Mary Shelley shares much emotionally with the harrowing tale of her great protagonist, Victor Frankenstein. A delicious and enticing journey into the origins of a masterpiece. Illus.
