Vindication: A Novel

by Frances Sherwood

Overview

"A sexy, irreverent romp of a novel...an exuberant ride through a heady and experimental time."—Harper's Bazaar

In this electrifying novel, Frances Sherwood re-creates the life and times of Mary Wollstonecraft, the trailblazing English feminist. Abetted by an unruly intelligence and an unquenchable romanticism, Sherwood's Mary survives a brutal childhood to carve a courageous but always uncertain path for herself in a world of men. Rich historical settings from the chaos of Revolutionary Paris to the Bedlam insane asylum are the backdrop for the complex tale of her intellectual and emotional passions, lovers and friends, motherhood and marriage. Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. A New York Times Notable Book. Reading group guide included.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393325386
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	01/17/2004
Pages:	450
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Frances Sherwood is a teacher in South Bend, Indiana, where she lives with her husband. Her works of fiction include Vindication, Night of Sorrows, and The Book of Splendor.

Editorial Reviews

Sherwood's heralded debut is an arresting and convincing portrayal of Mary Wollstonecraft, the 18th-century author of The Vindication of the Rights of Woman and perhaps the first feminist. Lending her subject a modern sensibility, Sherwood describes Mary's wretched childhood, and follows her through the humiliation of demeaning jobs and chronic poverty. Eventually, via the publication of Vindication and other books, Wollstonecraft becomes the most famous female author of her times. Wisely, Sherwood resists romanticizing Mary's complex personality. While she portrays her as intelligent, witty, idealistic and courageous, she also acknowledges the difficult edges of her character: Mary is impetuous, nervous, wildly passionate and subject to melancholy; she is self-destructive and full of self-doubt. In fact, her life is a series of ironies and contradictions: the crusader who writes that ``marriage is legalized prostitution'' finally finds safe harbor in a union with a man she had scorned; and, tragically, having survived a stint in Bedlam and a suicide attempt, Mary dies just when she has achieved the unimpeded means to write. In meticulously rendered background detail, Sherwood describes the brutal realities of the 18th century: public hangings, maimed children, abused women; the excesses of the French Revolution are acutely observed through Wollstonecraft's eyes. There are also droll and vivid portraits of publisher Joseph Johnson and the habitues of his salon, including firebrand Tom Paine, artist Henry Fuseli and a most eccentric William Blake. Boldly conceived and adroitly paced, the narrative builds in dramatic power. There is one cavil, however: by embroidering the facts of Wollstonecraft's life, interjecting some imagined experiences into a narrative that otherwise hews to the facts as we know them, Sherwood may confuse readers into thinking that everything here is true. But her virtuosity succeeds in rendering the torments of a brilliant mind struggling against hypocritical and punitive social codes. (May)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Publication of A Vindication of the Rights of Women in 1792 made Mary Wollstonecraft the most famous woman in Europe. She traveled to Paris to observe the French Revolution but arrived just in time to witness the terror. She had a child out of wedlock and was abandoned by the father, attempted suicide, and spent months chained to the wall in a lunatic asylum. She was on intimate terms with leading intellectuals of the day, including William Blake, Thomas Paine, and William Godwin, with whom she had a daughter, Mary, who later became the author of Frankenstein . What's most remarkable about this fictional biography is that it manages to touch upon so many trendy topics--child abuse, mental illness, homosexuality, and drug addiction--without departing from the basic facts. Sherwood emphasizes the contemporary relevance of Wollstonecraft's life but keeps the book historically grounded with abundant 18th-century detail. This first novel is recommended for most collections. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/93.-- Edward B. St. John, Loyola Law Sch. Lib., Los Angeles

Library Journal