Slightly Foxed contributer Daisy Hay launched her new book, Young Romantics, at Slightly Foxed on Gloucester Road.
In Young Romantics, Daisy Hay challenges the myth of the romantic poet as a solitary, introspective genius, telling the story of the communal existence of an astonishingly youthful circle which included Leigh Hunt, Shelley and his wife Mary, Mary’s step-sister Claire Clairmont, who became Byron’s lover and the mother of his child; and Hunt’s charismatic sister-in-law Elizabeth Kent.
Young Romantics explores the story of the group, from its inception in 1813 to its ultimate disintegration in the years following 1822. This smouldering combination of relationships would inspire the drama of Frankenstein, the heady idealism of Shelley’s poetry, and Byron’s own self-loathing, self-loving public persona. The characters are drawn with marvellous vitality, and the book is a fascinating read from a young biographer of great promise.
‘A most impressive achievement’ Michael Holroyd