"[Hay] is a skilled and surefooted chronicler. In firm, clear, often elegant prose, she narrates the main events in the lives of her subjects from 1813, when they began to coaslesce around Hunt in London, till 1822, when Shelley drowned near Livorno, Italy." -- Ben Downing, The New York Times Book Review "By assembling a great cast and exploring their high dramas, the author has given us a feast of a book." -- Edna O'Brien "The originality of this engrossing narrative comes from Daisy Hay's unusual focus on the passionate allegiances and literary influences between her characters. With great skill she weaves in and out of the lives of these poets, novelists, and philosophers, their husbands, wives, lovers, and children, exploring the dual nature of the creative impulse, its individuality, and the stimulus of kindred spirits. It is a most impressive achievement." -- Michael Holroyd "This erudite volume brings the second-generation Romantics entertainingly and vividly to life." -- Duncan Wu " Young Romantics is an enthralling tale of love, betrayal, sacrifice, and friendship played out against a backdrop of political turbulence and intense literary creativity.

And "Hay's account of the passionate and messy lives of her Romantics is vivid, picturesque, and finely told." -- Richard Eder, The Boston Globe -- Duncan Wu " Young Romantics is an enthralling tale of love, betrayal, sacrifice, and friendship played out against a backdrop of political turbulence and intense literary creativity. And "Hay's account of the passionate and messy lives of her Romantics is vivid, picturesque, and finely told." -- Richard Eder, The Boston Globe -- Duncan Wu " Young Romantics is an enthralling tale of love, betrayal, sacrifice, and friendship played out against a backdrop of political turbulence and intense literary creativity. And "Hay's account of the passionate and messy lives of her Romantics is vivid, picturesque, and finely told." -- Richard Eder, The Boston Globe -- Duncan Wu " Young Romantics is an enthralling tale of love, betrayal, sacrifice, and friendship played out against a backdrop of political turbulence and intense literary creativity. And "Hay's account of the passionate and messy lives of her Romantics is vivid, picturesque, and finely told." -- Richard Eder, The Boston Globe.