On the 200th anniversary of the publication of FRANKENSTEIN comes a riveting biography of its author, Mary Shelley, whose life reads like a dark gothic novel, filled with scandal, death, drama and one of the strangest love stories in literary history. 

The story of FRANKENSTEIN’s creator is a strange, romantic and tragic one, as deeply compelling as the novel itself. Mary ran away to Lake Geneva with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley when she was just 16. It was there, during a cold and wet summer, that she first imagined her story about a mad scientist who brought a corpse back to life. Success soon followed for Mary, but also great tragedy and misfortune.

Catherine Reef brings this passionate woman, brilliant writer and forgotten feminist into crisp focus, detailing a life that was remarkable both before and after the publication of her iconic masterpiece.