I’ve read enough Wollstonecraft now to say that she is one of my favourite authors. She isn’t without her flaws of course, but the breadth of her talents range from philosophical and political works, to novels, and of course, to travel letters like these.

But just as interesting and inspiring as her writing is, I find the character of Mary and her life just as much so. Godwin’s memoirs are a large reason for this, and I must say, Holmes’ introduction was a great supplement. Through all three pieces, we’re given a sensitive account of the challenges Mary faced throughout her life: her struggles with depression and suicide, her loss of friends through death, the cruelty of profiteering men, and her ultimate passing due to illness after the birth of her daughter, later to be Mary Shelley.

I felt the anguish that William felt when he cried, “This light was lent to me for a very short period, and is now extinguished forever!” (273). If only she were allowed to shine longer.

However, the achievements and positive impacts of Mary’s life cannot be overstated. An ardent feminist, she stood on equal footing to and publicly challenged the likes of Burke and Rousseau. She was admired by Thomas Paine and, while I wouldn’t say she was a socialist, certainly came to resent class inequality and the soullessness of profit-motive, as is evident in her travel letters.

“A man ceases to love humanity, and then individuals, as he advances in the chase after wealth; as one clashes with his interest, the other with his pleasures: to business, as it is termed, everything must give way; nay, is sacrificed; and all the endearing charities of citizen, husband, father, brother, become empty names” (193).

I believe Mary was perhaps a casualty of the heteronormative bias in historical scholarship that Kit Heyam and numerous other queer history scholars criticize. Her sexuality is portrayed, by herself and her biographers, as queer at the least, and this is best embodied in her intimate relationship with Fanny. Yet, this aspect of her life is frequently glossed over (seemingly for avoiding speculation). Regardless of how Mary would have described herself, and it isn’t for us to say, her radically non-heteronormative political and romantic life deserves recognition.

I’ve never felt so closely connected and familiar with a classic writer than I do with Mary Wollstonecraft, thanks to the care that all of the authors of this publication take in telling her story. A truly empowering woman.

This is a fascinating collection of letters written about our female author's experiences in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark at the time. While the letters were short they were all interesting to read in order to hear more of the author's commentary about each country's culture and her comparisons of these cultures. Usually, we only see men write about culture and travel from this point in history so it is also refreshing to see the woman's perspective on the topic. Though her opinion is more favorable towards Sweden than Norway, so just be prepared for that if you would get annoyed by this.

Also, she was really nice even while she was bringing up the negative parts of a culture. For example while talking about the Norwegian people she wrote "The Norwegians appear to be a sensible, shrewd people, with little scientific knowledge, and still less taste for literature; but they are arriving at the epoch which precedes the introduction of the arts and sciences." This is the most optimistic and kind negative critic I ever heard in a book exploring different cultures written during this time. At least two of her male counterpoints (Roy Chapman Andrews and D. H. Lawrence) at the time were straight-up insulting and making death threats about the people they met in their books. So while the bar was low for her she still did a great job and earned every star I gave her.

Overall it was an interesting book to read and I recommend it to people who want to feel like they are traveling and learn new things while reading.