Aziola’s Cry is a stunning debut novel, dramatizing author Mary Godwin’s marriage to the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
The author weaves an imagined story based on real events from well-researched primary sources. It is careful to give equal focus to Mary and Percy, not favouring one over the other. Byron is an ever-present figure, influencing both Mary and Percy, although I thought he seemed a somewhat sanitized version with no mention of his relationship with his half-sister or interest in men.
The present tense gives a feeling of being right there in that moment of history, especially when deployed with wonderful similes such as “the words march force like a battalion across the room, stopping short before husband and child with weapons raised.” The strength of feeling Percy has for Mary is likened to “the power that draws the compass needle.”
The main characters are illustrated well, showing their powerful emotions of love, loss, and depression. Moments of humour arise too. I loved the wise Mrs Mason who had the measure of Claire. “By the end of the afternoon Claire is talking animatedly about being a free woman who can earn her own way, quite as if it were her idea.”
Needless to say, there is lots of delightful poetry quoted throughout the book. The author’s own writing is lyrical and observant and a joy to read. I’m looking forward to the author’s next book based on Mary’s life after Shelley.
I received a free copy of this book via The Niche Reader
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