Books with author Mary W. Shelley

Approved by the Holden-Crowther Literary Organisation.Few creatures of horror have seized readers' imaginations and held them for so long as the anguished monster of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The story of Victor Frankenstein's terrible creation and the havoc it caused has enthralled generations of readers and inspired countless writers of horror and suspense. Considering the novel's enduring success, it is remarkable that it began merely as a whim of Lord Byron's."We will each write a story," Byron announced to his next-door neighbors, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and her lover Percy Bysshe Shelley. The friends were summering on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland in 1816, Shelley still unknown as a poet and Byron writing the third canto of Childe Harold. When continued rains kept them confined indoors, all agreed to Byron's proposal.The illustrious poets failed to complete their ghost stories, but Mary Shelley rose supremely to the challenge. With Frankenstein, she succeeded admirably in the task she set for herself: to create a story that, in her own words, "would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature and awaken thrilling horror -- one to make the reader dread to look round, to curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart."

The premier monster story of English literature—a tale of science pursued to horrifying extremes An origin story nearly as famous as the book itself: One dreary summer on the shores of Lake Geneva, amid discussions of galvanism and the occult and fireside readings from a collection of German ghost stories, Lord Byron proposed a game. Each of his guests—eighteen-year-old Mary Godwin and her future husband, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, among them—would try their hand at writing a tale of the supernatural. Unable at first to think of a plot, Mary was visited one sleepless night by the terrible vision of a corpse, a “hideous phantasm of a man,” lurching to life with the application of some unknown, powerful force. The man responsible, a “pale student of unhallowed arts,” fled in horror from his creation, leaving it to return to the dead matter from which it had been born. But the monster did not die. It followed the man to his bedside, where it stood watching him with “yellow, watery, but speculative eyes”—eyes of one who thought, and felt.  The novel that Mary Shelley would go on to publish, the legend of Victor Frankenstein and his unholy creation, and their obsessive, murderous pursuit of each other from Switzerland to the North Pole, has been the stuff of nightmares for nearly two centuries. A masterpiece of Romantic literature, it is also one of the most enduring horror stories ever written. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices. 

FRANKENSTEIN is widely regarded as a landmark work of romantic and gothic literature.“Mary Shelley’s first novel has been hailed as a masterpiece.” (The Guardian: The 100 Best Novels).“The book blew me away. Here is a creator, Victor Frankenstein, scared of his own creation and unable to take responsibility for it.” (The Independent: Book of a Lifetime)This illustrated edition of Mary Shelley’s classic novel includes:- the preface by Percy Bysshe Shelley- the introduction by Mary Shelley- the complete text from the 1831 edition- an illustrated history of the story’s creation - the cover design features the original frontispiece from the 1831 edition (by Theodor von Holst)READERS’ REVIEWS“The work impresses us with a high idea of the author’s original genius and happy power of expression.” – Walter Scott“Not what I expected. It was better.”“Having only seen the films, I never realised how touching and extraordinarily sad this story really is.”“A gem. One of my all-time favourite stories.”“This book was so hard to put down. Kept me gripped.”“An excellent novel. Filled with suspense and tension.”THE STORY BEHIND THE STORYThe writing of Frankenstein was influenced by two volcanic eruptions, one in Indonesia and one in the author’s private life.When she was nearly 17 years old, Mary Godwin fell in love with one of her father’s political followers, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was nearly 22 years old and already married.Despite the disapproval of her father – the political philosopher William Godwin – Mary and Percy eloped to France. In the summer of 1816 Mary and Percy visited Lord Byron at the Villa Diodati near Lake Geneva.They had planned numerous outdoor activities but the days were cold and dreary. Unknown to them, a volcano in Indonesia, Mount Tambora, had erupted with drastic effects on the global climate. The year 1816 was known as the “Year Without a Summer”. “It proved a wet, ungenial summer,” wrote Mary, “and incessant rain often confined us for days to the house.”Mary and her group of friends amused themselves by reading ghost stories in a book called Fantasmagoriana.Lord Byron suggested that they should “each write a ghost story”. At first Mary was embarrassed that she couldn’t think of anything to write. Then one night Mary went to bed after midnight but was unable to sleep. During this “waking dream” she devised the plot of Frankenstein.Mary later described that summer in Switzerland as the moment “when I first stepped out from childhood into life”.She conceived ‘Frankenstein’ as a short story but, encouraged by Percy Shelley, expanded it into a novel.Mary’s novel, though not her relationship with Percy Shelley, earned her father’s approval. He later wrote to her: “[Frankenstein] is the most wonderful work to have been written at twenty years of age that I have ever heard of. You are now five and twenty. And, most fortunately, you have pursued a course of reading, and cultivated your mind in a manner the most admirably adapted to make you a great and successful author.”Percy drowned in 1822, less than a month before his 30th birthday, when his sailing boat sank during a storm on the Gulf of Spezia. In 1826 Mary received a marriage proposal from an American actor, John Howard Payne, but she refused him, saying that after being married to one genius, she could only marry another.

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, is a novel written by English author Mary Shelley about the young student of science Victor Frankenstein, who creates a grotesque but sentient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty. The first edition was published anonymously in London in 1818. Shelley's name appears on the second edition, published in France in 1823. Shelley had travelled through Europe in 1814, journeying along the river Rhine in Germany with a stop in Gernsheim which is just 17 km (10 mi) away from Frankenstein Castle, where two centuries before an alchemist was engaged in experiments. Later, she travelled in the region of Geneva (Switzerland)—where much of the story takes place—and the topics of galvanism and other similar occult ideas were themes of conversation among her companions, particularly her lover and future husband, Percy Shelley. Mary, Percy, Lord Byron, and John Polidori decided to have a competition to see who could write the best horror story. After thinking for days, Shelley dreamt about a scientist who created life and was horrified by what he had made; her dream later evolved into the story within the novel.

A futuristic story of tragic love and of the gradual extermination of the human race by plague, The Last Man is Mary Shelley's most important novel after Frankenstein. With intriguing portraits of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron, the novel offers a vision of the future that expresses a reaction against Romanticism, and demonstrates the failure of the imagination and of art to redeem the doomed characters.

This eBook has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices."Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a grotesque, sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Frankenstein is infused with elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement. At the same time, it is an early example of science fiction. It has had a considerable influence in literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories, films and plays."The Last Man" is a post-apocalyptic novel which tells of a future world that has been ravaged by a plague. Lionel Verney or The Last Man is the orphan son of an impoverished nobleman. Lionel is originally lawless, self-willed, and resentful of the nobility for casting aside his father. When he is befriended by Adrian, son of the last King of England, he embraces civilization and particularly scholarship.

How is this book unique?Font adjustments & biography includedUnabridged (100% Original content)IllustratedAbout The Last Man by Mary ShelleyThe Last Man is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Mary Shelley, which was first published in 1826. The book tells of a future world that has been ravaged by a plague. Plot Summary: Lionel's father was a friend of the king before he was cast away because of his gambling. Lionel's father left to take his life, but before he did so he left a letter for the king to take care of his family after his death. After Lionel's father died the letter was never delivered. Lionel and his sister grow up with no parental influence, and as a result grow to be uncivilised. Lionel develops a hatred of the royal family, and Perdita grows to enjoy her isolation from society. When the king leaves the throne, the monarchy comes to an end and a republic is created. When the king dies the Countess attempts to raise their son, Adrian, to reclaim the throne, but Adrian opposes his mother and refuses to take the throne. Adrian moves to Cumberland where Lionel, who bears a grudge against Adrian and his family for the neglect of the Verney family, intends to terrorise and confront Adrian. He is mollified by Adrian's good nature and his explanation that he only recently discovered the letter. Lionel and Adrian become close friends, and Lionel becomes civilised and philosophical under Adrian's influence. Adrian assists Lionel in pursuing political endeavors in Vienna which Lionel accepts and leaves for 2 years but chooses to return to England because he hasn't heard from either Adrian or his sister.

How is this book unique?Font adjustments & biography includedUnabridged (100% Original content)IllustratedAbout The Last Man by Mary ShelleyThe Last Man is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Mary Shelley, which was first published in 1826. The book tells of a future world that has been ravaged by a plague. Plot Summary: Lionel's father was a friend of the king before he was cast away because of his gambling. Lionel's father left to take his life, but before he did so he left a letter for the king to take care of his family after his death. After Lionel's father died the letter was never delivered. Lionel and his sister grow up with no parental influence, and as a result grow to be uncivilised. Lionel develops a hatred of the royal family, and Perdita grows to enjoy her isolation from society. When the king leaves the throne, the monarchy comes to an end and a republic is created. When the king dies the Countess attempts to raise their son, Adrian, to reclaim the throne, but Adrian opposes his mother and refuses to take the throne. Adrian moves to Cumberland where Lionel, who bears a grudge against Adrian and his family for the neglect of the Verney family, intends to terrorise and confront Adrian. He is mollified by Adrian's good nature and his explanation that he only recently discovered the letter. Lionel and Adrian become close friends, and Lionel becomes civilised and philosophical under Adrian's influence. Adrian assists Lionel in pursuing political endeavors in Vienna which Lionel accepts and leaves for 2 years but chooses to return to England because he hasn't heard from either Adrian or his sister.

Mary Shelley states in the introduction that in 1818 she discovered, in the Sibyl's cave near Naples, a collection of prophetic writings painted on leaves by the Cumaean Sibyl. She has edited these writings into the current narrative, the first-person narrative of a man living at the end of the 21st century, commencing in 2073 and concluding in 2100. Despite the futuristic setting, the world of The Last Man appears to be relatively similar to the era in which it was written.