“I had desired it with an ardour . . . but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” Consumed by the desire to discover the secret of life, Victor Frankenstein, a man with unremitting curiosity and hunger for knowledge, infuses a spark of life into the inanimate body created from stolen body parts. But as the dull yellow eyes of the creature open, Victor is chilled to the marrow. Appalled by his work, he runs away. What happens as his creation, the monster, turns into a murderer, seeking out his creator, demanding companionship? Will Victor Frankenstein create another monster? An instant bestseller, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein explores how destructive the thirst for knowledge can be. With elements of a true Gothic novel, it is considered to be one of the earliest examples of science fiction.
About the Author
Born in London, on August 30, 1797, as Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, Mary Shelley was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer. Best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), Mary wrote several others including Valperga (1823), a historical novel, and The Last Man (1826), a science fiction tale. She also edited and promoted her husband’s poetry, preserving his place in literary history. Mary wrote numerous articles and stories for various magazines and journals, including the London Magazine, the Westminster Review, and The Keepsake. In 1830, her fourth novel The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck: A Romance was published and in 1837 was published her last novel Falkner. She published numerous essays for Lardner’s Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men which formed a part of his Cabinet Cyclopaedia. In 1839, she published a four-volume edition of Percy Shelley’s Poetical Works. Mary Shelley died on February 1, 1851, in London. Amongst her numerous works, the classic tale of Frankenstein remains her lasting legacy.
