Love and Fury Summer Read-Along: Join us this July!
In case you hadn’t noticed, Mary Wollstonecraft is Having. A. Moment.
From an appearance in Netflix’s record-breaking Bridgerton and a surge in academic interest, to shout-outs in the London Review of Books and the Financial Times, to a slew of new and forthcoming books and the premiere of a one-woman stage show: Wollstonecraft’s bold and brilliant vision of how the world could be is finding new resonance in our challenging times.
Feminists and activists around the world are drawing on Wollstonecraft’s radical thinking to fuel their own fires. We’ve been delighted by the enthusiastic response our own educational resources have received from primary schools across the UK. Earlier this month, the iconic Rebecca Solnit sought solace at Wollstonecraft’s grave at Old St Pancras in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s devastating anti-abortion ruling (which she writes about here).
“[Mary Wollstonecraft] will always stand for a kind of enlightenment that is […] under quite fierce attack at the moment.”
Also bringing this timeless thinker to new audiences is author Samantha Silva, whose fictional reimaging of Wollstonecraft’s too-short life, Love and Fury, was first released in 2021. Described by writer Annabel Abbs as “a luminous love-letter” to its protagonist, the book is suffused with Wollstonecraft’s unbreakable, inimitable spirit.
Love and Fury begins in 1797 with the birth of Mary Shelley, the start of her life signalling the impending end of her mother’s. The action unspools in almost-real time as William Godwin sits at Mary’s bedside, willing his wife to remain in the world. Also keeping watch is Mrs Blenkinsop, the midwife who, summoned to assist with the birth, is enchanted by the rare combination of softness and strength she sees in her client.
The baby is sickly, and “Mrs B” suggests that Mary “talk her into the world” by sharing her own life story. That story, Mary owns, is not always pretty: “There are triumphs in it, a scattering of joys, but the beautiful sits side by side with the grotesque; I cannot separate them.” Silva deftly weaves together these disparate strands, alternating between Mary’s narration of her life and the perspective of the experienced but anxious Mrs Blenkinsop. Fanny Blood, William Godwin, Joseph Johnson: the gang’s all here, brought to life with skill and attention. It’s clear that Silva has done a huge amount of research, but the book never feels heavy-handed: the period detail serves to enliven a timeless story of a brilliant woman whose life is cut short by inadequate medical care.
Those already familiar with Wollstonecraft will meet here the Mary they know and love: curious, huge-hearted, enamoured with nature, chafing against the constraints of her time. Newcomers will also find lots here to love. Love and Fury stands alone as a rollicking good read, and serves as the perfect introduction to Wollstonecraft’s life and work.
“Mary Wollstonecraft didn’t just give birth to modern feminism, she invented the life,” says Samantha Silva. “I wanted to know her as flesh, blood, heat, want, fury, hope, despair - what it was then to be a woman in a crushing patriarchy, and stand up to it, call it by its name, at every turn. She forged a path that’s still ours to take. We need her beside us as much as ever.”
Thanks to Allison & Busby, friends and followers of the Wollstonecraft Society can enjoy a discount on the paperback and ebook editions of Love and Fury. Visit the Allison & Busby website and use the code thewollsoc (upper- and lower-case letters will both work) to buy the paperback for £5.99 (UK postage and packaging included) or visit your preferred ebook retailer to get the ebook for just £3.99:
You might find this reading guide for Love and Fury by Samantha Silva, from BookBrowse, helpful.
“Intensely moving. Silva’s writing is as fearless as its subject. Love and Fury is like watching newly-colourised archive film burst into life - I knew the story, but I never knew the story like this.”