William Godwin, the author`s future husband, was not alone in admiring Letters written during a short residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark , Wollstonecraft`s most popular book during her lifetime. Not easy to categorize, it is both an arresting travel book and a moving exploration of her personal and political selves. Wollstonecraft set out for Scandinavia just two weeks after her first suicide attempt, on a mission from the lover whose affections she doubted, to recover his silver on a ship that had gone missing. With her baby daughter and a nursemaid, she travelled across the dramatic landscape and wrote sublime descriptions of the natural world, and the events and people she encountered. What emerges most vividly is Wollstonecraft`s courage and ability to look beyond her own suffering to the turmoil around her in revolutionary Europe, and a better future.

This edition includes further material on the silver ship, Wollstonecraft`s personal letters to Imlay during her trip, an extract from Godwin`s memoir, and a selection of contemporary reviews.