Outcasts A Novel of Mary Shelley [Paperback]

On a dark and stormy night in 1816, a teenage girl sat down and invented science fiction. Mary Shelley was no more than 18 years old when she wroteFrankenstein. From the moment of its publication 200 years ago, readers have been wondering, as Mary put it, “How I, then a young girl, came to think of, and to dilate upon, so very hideous an idea?”Outcasts takes readers behind the scenes, to reveal the surprisingly contemporary thoughts and feelings of Mary, an unmarried mother and the lover of radical poet Percy Shelley, their friend Lord Byron, and the other guests at the “most famous literary party in history”. What led the daughter of two of the most radical philosophers in England to turn her hand to horror?

"A remarkable achievement. Beautifully written, eerily authentic and never less than compelling, Stegall's fictionalized account of an extraordinary moment in literary history held me in thrall." —Miranda Seymour, fellow, Royal Society of Literature; author,Mary Shelley

"WithOutcasts, Sarah Stegall twists the origins of Frankenstein into a new and utterly fascinating shape. Brilliant, devious and beautifully written. Highly recommended." —Jonathan Maberry, author,Kill SwitchandThe Wolfman

"During the dreary summer of 1816, in a villa on Lake Geneva, Lord Byron challenged Mary Shelley; her husband, Percy; and John Polidori to each write a ghost story. Stegall has done her research on these remarkable people, and much of the drama comes organically as she lets their opposing personalities and desires bounce off each other. Rather than dwelling on personal drama, Stegall folds philosophy into the narrative, taking meandering paths through subjects that were dear to the Romantics' hearts: nature, the fallibility of human beings, the soul, women's rights, and, later, ghosts and monsters. This novel is sure to plealï