Bedtime Biography: Vindication

Narrated by Karen Cass

Vindication (2006) tells the inspiring, thrilling, and often tragic tale of the life of Mary Wollstonecraft, known today as the founder of modern feminism. Drawing on significant moments in Wollstonecraft’s life, from her childhood in an abusive household to her experiences co-founding a school and living in Revolutionary France, it paints a picture of a woman who was as complex as she was brilliant. Throughout every stage of her life, Wollstonecraft was truly an original thinker, and her influence on feminist thought continues to ring out today.

• Feminists and people interested in the history of women
• Fans of stories about tragic heroes
• Anyone fascinated by the personal lives of famous historical figures

Lyndall Gordon is a senior research fellow at Oxford University and the author of nine biographies on literary figures. Several of her works have won awards, including Eliot’s Early Years, a biography of T.S. Eliot; Virginia Woolf: A Writer’s Life; and Charlotte Brontë: A Passionate Life.