IFWG is very proud to release its first non-fiction title, A Vindication of Monsters: Essays on Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley, edited by Claire Fitzpatrick. The cover was masterfully crafted by Greg Chapman.
“This title was years in the making,” said Gerry Huntman, Managing Director of IFWG, “but was well worth the wait. We enjoyed supporting Claire with her amazing vision, and as a team we have a terrific lineup of essayists and other contributors. This title will be a great read for fans of the Marys as well as the history/origins of speculative and feminist fiction, but no doubt will have academic interest as well.”
In 1797 an extraordinary visionary died, leaving behind a grieving husband, a two-year-old daughter, and a newborn. The woman was Mary Wollstonecraft, her daughter Fanny Imlay, and her baby Mary Godwin, who, through many trials and tribulations, grew up to become the remarkable Mary Shelley, creator of one of the most important books in literature: Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus.
While many books have examined both women’s lives, their remarkable similarities, their passions, joys, and their grief, A Vindication of Monsters: Essays on Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley, delves deeper into the stories behind both women, their connections to historical events, society, their philosophies, and their political contributions to their time. These essays and memoirs explore Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley, and Shelley’s circle of friends, including her husband, the capricious poet Percy Shelley; the libertine Romantic Lord Byron; the first modern vampire author John Polidori; and other contemporary creatives who continue to be inspired by both women today.
The Table of Contents:
- Preface by Sara Karloff, actress and Boris Karloff’s daughter
- Introduction (‘Examining Frankenstein’) by Leslie S. Klinger (editor of the highly-acclaimed New Annotated Frankenstein)
- Foreword by Lisa Morton, six-time Bram Stoker Award® winner
- ‘In His Eyes Our Own Yearning: Seeing Mary Shelley and Her Creature’ by Nancy Holder
- ‘The Maker Remade: Mary Shelley In Fiction’ by Matthew R Davis
- ‘Beauty And The Grotesque’ by Michele Brittany
- ‘Mary Shelley And The World Of Monsters’ by Rob Hood
- ‘An Articulation Of Beauty In The Film ‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’’ by Donald Prentice Jr
- ‘Mapping The Collective Body Of Frankenstein’s Brides’ by Carina Bissett
- ‘Marys And Motherhood’ and Preamble by Claire Fitzpatrick
- ‘Don’t Feed The Monsters’ by Hk Stubbs
- ‘My Mother Hands Me A Book’ by Piper Mejia
- ‘A Bold Question: Consent And The Experimental Subject In Frankenstein’ by Octavia Cade
- ‘Mary Shelley And Percy Shelley’s Fascination With The Creation Myth And Sexual Androgyny’ by Ciarán Bruder
- ‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein And Revenge Killers’ by Anthony P Fergusson
- ‘Medicine And Mary Shelley’ by Grant Butler
- ‘Frankenstein’s Language Model’ by Jason Franks
- ‘Mary Shelley: Pandemics, Isolation, And Writing’ by Lee Murray
- ‘Mary W And Mary S: A Story With Objects’ by Lucy Sussex
The following is a comprehensive essay on the motivations and content of this book by the editor, Claire Fitzpatrick (in Ginger Nuts of Horror).
A Vindication of Monsters is available from all good bookstores, online and bricks and mortar – in print and ebook formats.
IFWG Publishing 