The Determined Heart cover art

The Determined Heart

The Tale of Mary Shelley and Her Frankenstein

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The Determined Heart

By: Antoinette May
Narrated by: Susan Duerden
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About this listen

The Determined Heart reveals the life of Mary Shelley in a story of love and obsession, betrayal and redemption.

The daughter of political philosopher William Godwin and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley had an unconventional childhood populated with the most talented and eccentric personalities of the time. After losing her mother at an early age, she finds herself in constant conflict with a resentful stepmother and a jealous stepsister. When she meets the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, she falls deeply in love, and they elope with disastrous consequences. Soon she finds herself destitute and embroiled in a torturous love triangle as Percy takes Mary's stepsister as a lover. Over the next several years, Mary struggles to write while she and Percy face ostracism, constant debt, and the heartbreaking deaths of three children. Ultimately, she achieves great acclaim for Frankenstein, but at what cost?

©2015 Antoinette May (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved

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All stars
Most relevant
Loved the story. Although the narrator's voice initially grated, it became easier to listen to as became more used to it.

Mary Shelley's life story pulled at the heart, frustration arose as often she was taken for granted and allowed it, but against everything became her own person.

An intriguing woman

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What disappointed you about The Determined Heart?

Couldn't manage more than 10 minutes of the narration/ 'performance'. Sounded like a non-stop satirical trailer for bad action movie

defeated after 10 minutes

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