My Review of Arguing with the Dead by Alex Nye

My Review:

This isn't an easy read nor based on the subject matter should it be, it's disturbing as the reader is trapped in Mary Shelley's mind from her present in 1839 and back through all the events that shaped her life. Due to Alex Nye's excellent crafting I quickly forgot that this wasn't Shelley's own narrative but rather Nye's interpretation as its so convincing and so historically rich. Arguing with the Dead has obviously been meticulously researched by Nye and I felt as if I was living Shelley's life vicariously through her. As a writer, a woman, a wife and a mother I couldn't help but empathise with her but even if your are none of the above you will find yourself unable not to sympathise with her.

Nye has taken on a difficult task as we all know something about Mary Shelley and her scandalous relationship with Percy Byshe Shelley, but by immersing the reader into Mary Shelley's mind we see how she's not so different from you or I. Childbirth is still the most dangerous time in a woman's life and with it comes the torn loyalties between partner and child. No matter how secure you are financially secure you are, motherhood most certainly has an impact and this novel exquisitely and excruciatingly addresses the concept of guilt. Also, I could not help but sympathise with her plight as she lost one child after another and was also greatly let down by the two men she looked up to and loved most. As Nye's Shelley states: in the novel shes a realist and that inevitably leads to disillusionment with the men who let her down. Nye expertly depicts Percy as a man full of ideals to live by as long as they suit his whims and wishes. Mary is at  his mercy but ultimately battles through and in her own way triumphs.

Nye has created a very complex character in this Mary Shelley, there are times when you wonder if she is paranoid or mad, and there are other times when the reader feels she must certainly have been crippled by both overwhelming grief and post natal depression. This sets the scene for the 'appearance' of Harriet Westbrook, Percy Byshe Shelley's first wife. Nye's Shelley definitely believes she was haunted by her and I loved the use of the biased narrator as the reader is never completely sure. Has Shelley created her own creature to haunt her just like Frankenstein?

This was a very rewarding and enriching read.

Thank you to Kelly at Love Book Tours for inviting me to take part.