Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman

About the book

William Godwin's memoir follows Mary Wollstonecraft through family difficulties, work, friendship, writing, and intimate relationships. He argues that an honest account of a distinguished life can serve public understanding, and his affection is inseparable from that purpose. The result should not be mistaken for an impersonal modern biography: proximity gives Godwin knowledge, but grief and admiration also influence the portrait. The narrative connects the author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman with the practical pressures under which she lived and worked. Readers can examine the relationship between the memoir's stated ideals and its choices of disclosure. Its enduring interest lies both in what it records about Wollstonecraft and in the difficult question of how one person may responsibly tell another's life.

• Life writing
• Intellectual independence
• Love and memory

Why read it

For a brief, affecting biography that makes its own commitment to truthful remembrance part of the subject.

English memoir by William Godwin · 1798