Judge’s poetry and black and white illustrations beautifully evoke the darkness and difficulties Mary Shelley faced. Judge does a marvelous job setting Mary Shelley’s story in its historical context. In the same way that Frankenstein was a genre-defying blend of romantic and gothic literature with science fiction, Mary’s Monster is a genre-defying illustrated historical novel in verse. Mary’s Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein, by Lita Judge tells the story of Mary Shelley’s monsters (personal, familial and societal) and how they led her to write Frankenstein. It starts off a bit slowly, but it is worth persevering because the ending is perfect – much better than the original ending. Flashbacks fill in a backstory of White’s own creation, but that feels as though Mary Shelley would approve. The book opens with Elizabeth looking for Victor, who has disappeared. He is the one who comes off as the real monster. Whether you’ve read the original or not, you know enough to understand what Victor is up to. female characters) and what a brilliant decision this was. In her author’s note, White states that she wanted to write from the point of view of the minor (i.e. The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White.
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