“Measured, disciplined, and emotionally resonant, this is an extended poetic love letter—one that honors not only Mary Shelley’s achievement, but the cost at which it was earned. A stunner.”
— The Prairies Book Review

“A loving epistle to a literary hero, a biography that doubles as a Bildungsroman, Künstlerroman and project of compressed literary criticism, this collection is a sui generis compendium, riveting for initiated and amateur alike.”
— BlueInk Review, starred review for a Notable Book

“I often forgot that Mary Shelley belonged to another century. Her longing felt familiar. Her isolation felt personal. Her need to create meaning through words felt deeply recognizable.” — Alisha Abbasi, medium.com

“One of the collection’s strengths is its clear and chronological structure, which sheds light on the events that influenced Mary Shelley’s writing…. An absorbing biography in sonnet form.”
— Kirkus Reviews

“From her writing to her politics and the gothic tragedies that she endured, the book recalls the circumstances that shaped her life and legacy using a steady, even rhythm and subtle traces of witty, tongue-in-cheek turns of phrase.”
— Katelynn Watkins, Foreword Reviews

See below for further review synopses and links.

These 100 sonnets tell the story of an extraordinary young woman who had an immeasurable impact on literature and other media worldwide. The collection focuses on the period from her birth, as Mary Godwin (daughter of literary firebrands William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft), to her twenty-fourth year, when she returned to London after five years abroad: a widow and a mother to a young son, but with a scandalous reputation and no clear means of support. However, she was “The Author of ‘Frankenstein’.” The nom de plume carried the weight of a novel that had already become famous (indeed, infamous), and she understood that it may make it possible for her to support herself and her son via her pen. The sonnets also chronicle Mary Shelley’s interactions with some of the most influential writers and thinkers of her day: her husband Percy Shelley, of course, as well as Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Matthew “Monk” Lewis, John Polidori, Leigh Hunt, and others. And no biography of Mary Shelley would be complete without an accounting of the famous ghost story writing contest among the “Diodati Circle” in the year with no summer.

See the book’s sell sheet.

From the Author’s Preface:

“Mary Shelley’s most significant literary achievement from the period was of course Frankenstein, but I didn’t want this collection to be solely about the conceiving of and the writing of that watershed book. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was so much more than “the author of Frankenstein,” and I hope Aspiring Child provides a more panoramic view of an extraordinary woman who led an extraordinary (and at times extraordinarily difficult) life.”

Aspiring Child: A Biography of Mary W. Shelley is available in hardcover and paperback editions, as well as Kindle. These are the Amazon links, but check your favorite indie bookstore’s webpage too.

Reviews of Aspiring Child

“Quietly radical and intellectually precise. Morrissey blends poetic biography with quiet literary reflection in his latest book. Written as sonnets and prose addressed directly to Mary Shelley, the work forgoes a conventional life narrative in favor of a deeply human portrait—one shaped by loss, persistence, and an unyielding creative spirit…. Measured, disciplined, and emotionally resonant, this is an extended poetic love letter—one that honors not only Mary Shelley’s achievement, but the cost at which it was earned. A stunner.” — The Prairies Book Review (Here’s a brief video about the review.)

“Celebrating and probing a ‘clever mind … enflamed like a Promethean torch,’ poet and novelist Morrissey (author of Delta of Cassiopeia) employs the sonnet form to contemplate that richest of subjects, Mary Shelley…. Of course, Mary Shelley’s life does not stop after the precocious publication of Frankenstein. Morrissey narrates the rest of her dramatic, tragic, and eventful life with the reverence and care due such a genius. (Two of Morrissey’s own novels, An Untimely Frost and Mrs Saville, are inspired by Shelley and her work.) He also asks incisive questions, digging into her mystery. Shelley fans will delight in Morrissey’s collection, and what detail is sacrificed by the sonnet form is made up for in the fresh telling of Mary Shelley’s mythic life.” — Booklife (review will also appear in Publishers Weekly) (Here is a brief video about the review.)

“Ted Morrissey’s Aspiring Child is a visionary collection of linked, neoformal sonnets that serve as a biography of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley … a unique approach to exploring the life of a notable literary figure, both educational and engaging even for those unfamiliar with Shelley or the Romantic poets with whom she interacted…. Morrissey is an accomplished scholar of Shelley’s work, and his poems reflect this…. A loving epistle to a literary hero, a biography that doubles as a Bildungsroman, Künstlerroman and project of compressed literary criticism, this collection is a sui generis compendium, riveting for initiated and amateur alike.” — BlueInk Review, starred review for a Notable Book (Here is a brief video about the review.)

“While readingAspiring Child, I often forgot that Mary Shelley belonged to another century. Her longing felt familiar. Her isolation felt personal. Her need to create meaning through words felt deeply recognizable…. This book reminded me why literature matters—not as achievement or decoration, but as survival…. Aspiring Child stays with me because it reminds me that genius is not always loud. That brilliance often grows in silence. That some children never stop aspiring—not because they fail, but because they keep imagining despite everything…. This book honors that truth—with patience, tenderness, and profound humanity.” — Alisha Abbasi, medium.com (Here is a brief video about the review.)

“The book suggests that Mary Shelley was made up of many layers, and each poem within it addresses her different facets and the events that marked her personal history. From her writing to her politics and the gothic tragedies that she endured, the book recalls the circumstances that shaped her life and legacy using a steady, even rhythm and subtle traces of witty, tongue-in-cheek turns of phrase…. [T]he book gives credit to Shelley for what she was able to accomplish in her lifetime while also acknowledging what it cost her to do so and the burdens she hid even form those closest to her…. Poignant and passionate by turns, Aspiring Child is an extended poetic love letter to a celebrated author.” — Katelynn Watkins, Foreword Reviews, 4/5 Clarion rating (Here’s a brief video about the review).

“One of the collection’s strengths is its clear and chronological structure, which sheds light on the events that influenced Mary Shelley’s writing: ‘trauma was your co-author and / every pen-stroke bled shades of pain: / abandonment, withheld love, lost hope.’ Another strength is the consistent voice—steady, restrained—across 100 sonnets. Standout imagery appears in lines like how Mary’s mind ‘was its own sort / of powerful engine, fusing the ideas, / igniting electric sparks of imagination.’ . . . An absorbing biography in sonnet form . . .” — Kirkus Reviews (Here’s a brief video about the review.)

“The letter-esque poetry gives an interesting insight into both Morrissey’s view of Shelley and of Shelley herself. . . . Overall, Aspiring Child . . . is a genuine expression of love for an author whose life often swerved into tragedy. In reading these poems, you will empathize and understand the woman behind one of the greatest Gothic novels of all time.” — Jordan Waterwash, Reader Views, 5/5 stars (Here’s a brief video about the review.)