Mary Shelley

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Mary Shelley is best known today as the author of Frankenstein, a Gothic novel widely considered the first work of science fiction. As demonstrated by her Swiss sojourn with the married Percy Shelley and the scandalous Lord Byron, Mary's own life was as sensational and tragic as anything contained within the pages of her famous novel. A real-life Gothic heroine and a serious author, her work profoundly influenced English genre fiction, and continues to inspire writers to this day. But to what extent was Mary Shelley’s work influenced by the revolutionary politics and philosophies of her parents? What rash decisions and traumatic events shaped her work? And how does a scary story written…