Passion A Novel of the Romantic Poets [Paperback]

Theirs was a world of obsession, genius, and above all&

In the turbulent years of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, three poetsByron, Shelley, and Keatscome to prominence, famous and infamous, for their vivid personalities, and their glamorous, shocking, and sometimes tragic lives. In this electrifying novel, those lives are explored through the eyes of the women who knew and loved themintensely, scandalously.

Four women from widely different backgrounds are linked by a sensational fate. Mary Shelley: the gifted daughter of gifted parents, for whom passion leads to exile, loss, and a unique fame. Lady Caroline Lamb: born to fabulous wealth and aristocratic position, who risks everything for the ultimate love affair. Fanny Brawne: her quiet, middle-class girlhood is transformedand immortalizedby a disturbing encounter with genius. Augusta Leigh: the unassuming poor relation who finds herself flouting the greatest of all taboos.

With the originality, richness, and daring of the poets themselves,Passionpresents the Romantic generation in a new and unforgettable light.

Reading Group Questions

1.Passionis called A Novel of the Romantic Poets. Do you regardPassionas the life stories of Mary Shelley, Lady Caroline Lamb, and Augusta Leighthe wives and lovers of the poetsor the stories of the poets themselves, as seen through the eyes of the women?

2. The word passion can connote sexual desire; ardent affection or love; an intense, driving feeling or conviction; or suffering. What does passion mean for the characters in this novel?

3. In what ways are these women's lives enriched and/or undermined by their involvement with the Romantic Poets?

4. The book opens with the attempted suicide of Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley's mother and author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. How does this scene influence your interpretation of Mary Shelley's life? Why does the bool³5