Join Fiona Sampson in an exploration of Mary Shelley, the girl behind Frankenstein, at The Courtyard this November.

Fiona Sampson MBE is a prize-winning poet and writer, and she will be in conversation with Peter Florence CBE, Director of Hay Festival about her book, Mary Shelley – the Girl who Wrote Frankenstein.

Mary Shelley was brought up by her father in a house filled with radical thinkers, poets, philosophers and writers of the day. She coped with debt, infidelity and the deaths of three children, before early widowhood changed her life forever. Most astonishingly, it was while she was still a teenager that Mary composed her novel Frankenstein, creating two of our most enduring archetypes.

The life story is well known, but who was the woman who lived it? She’s left plenty of evidence, and in this fascinating dialogue with the past, Fiona Sampson sifts through letters, diaries and records to find the real woman behind the story.

Following the talk, audiences will be invited to watch a screening of the original 1931 Frankenstein film.

This event is a joint fundraiser between The Courtyard and Breast Cancer Haven.

In Search of Mary Shelley – the Girl who Wrote Frankenstein will be in The Courtyard’s Studio Theatre on Wednesday, November 21 at 6pm. To book, or for further information, call the box office on 01432 340555 or visit courtyard.org.uk