although godwin admired wollstonecraft's writings, he did not agree with her that women should receive the same education as men. therefore, he occasionally read to fanny and mary from sarah trimmer's "fabulous histories" (1786) and anna laetitia barbauld's "lessons for children" (1778–79), but, according to todd, he did not take great pains with their educations and disregarded the books wollstonecraft had written for fanny. william st clair, in his biography of the godwins and the shelleys, argues that godwin and wollstonecraft spoke extensively about the education they wanted for their children and that godwin's writings in "the enquirer" reflect these discussions. he contends that after wollstonecraft's death godwin wrote to a former pupil to whom she had been close, now lady mountcashell, asking her advice on how to raise and educate his daughters. in her biography of mary shelley, miranda seymour agrees with st clair, arguing that "everything we know about his daughter's [mary's and presumably fanny's] early years suggests that she was being taught in a way of which her mother would have approved", pointing out that she had a governess, a tutor, a french-speaking stepmother, and a father who wrote children's books whose drafts he read to his own first. it was the new mrs godwin who was primarily responsible for the education given to the girls, but she taught her own daughter more, including french. fanny received no formal education after her stepfather's marriage. yet, the adult imlay is described by c. kegan paul, one of godwin's earliest biographers, as "well educated, sprightly, clever, a good letter-writer, and an excellent domestic manager". fanny excelled in drawing and was taught music. despite godwin's atheism, all of the children were taken to an anglican church.