An Afternoon Tea with Mary Shelley

I attended the Making a Monster: An Afternoon Tea with Mary Shelley at Hunter House Victorian Museum, a house museum that was built in 1894 for James Wilson Hunter and Lizzie Ayer Barnes Hunter and their children. 

 This was the second time that I’ve attended one of their teas. The last time was in January 2018 when they hosted “Walking in a Witchy Wonderland.” This time, I decided to join the museum as a member. The museum is run by women and they have the best programming with many literary in nature. 

The Mary Shelley tea event was listed: 

Discover the blurred lines between medicine and literature at this interactive afternoon tea. Come meet our special guest Mary Shelley and learn about the real-life events that inspired her to make a monster. 

I’ve been trying not to take too many pictures at events since I’m focused on being present, or at least trying to be present but the food was so cute and the actors were talented, informative, and entertaining that I took a few. I loved how the camera played some tricks as the actor playing Percy Bysshe Shelley read from the book. Unfortunately, I was a bit too close to the actor playing Mary Shelley that my camera distorted her a bit. 

I really enjoyed the company of the museum members who were at the table with me. And, while visiting their gift shop, I was thrilled to see so many of the books and merchandise focused on women's history. I thought my Women Writers Buried in Virginia would fit right in. 

Turns out that they have an annual Poe event so this year my forthcoming book The Souls Close to Edgar Allan Poe: Graves of His Family, Friends and Foes will fit in as well. 

The tea was all very kismet. 

Hunter House Victorian Museum