The woman behind Frankenstein: Strange facts about Mary Shelley

Long before Frankenstein became one of the world's most recognisable horror stories, Mary Shelley was an 18-year-old writer spending a strange, stormy summer near Lake Geneva. Born to pioneering thinkers Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, she grew up surrounded by radical ideas about literature, politics and society. Her life was marked by extraordinary creativity as well as profound personal loss, experiences that give a darker dimension to the woman behind the famous monster. (wikimedia commons)

Her Mother Died Days After Her Birth: Mary Shelley was born in 1797 to Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, but she never knew her mother. Wollstonecraft died from complications just 11 days after Mary's birth. She later grew up surrounded by her mother's intellectual legacy, including Wollstonecraft's influential writings on women's rights. (wikimedia commons)

The First Frankenstein Didn't Name Her: When Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus was published on January 1, 1818, Mary's name did not appear on the title page. The novel was published anonymously, and some readers even assumed Percy Bysshe Shelley was the author. Mary was first explicitly credited with the novel in later editions, including the 1823 English edition. (wikimedia commons)

Her Life Was Filled With Loss: Mary's fascination with life, death and creation existed alongside devastating personal experiences. She lost her first child shortly after birth and later endured the deaths of other children and, in 1822, her husband Percy Shelley, who drowned in Italy at just 29. These experiences have often been discussed alongside the recurring themes of loss and creation in her writing. (wikimedia commons)

She Was Just 18 When Frankenstein Was Born: Mary began developing Frankenstein at just 18, during a famously gloomy summer in Switzerland. Lord Byron challenged his guests including Mary, Percy Shelley and physician John Polidori—to write their own ghost stories. After struggling for days, Mary experienced what she later described as a “waking dream” of a scientist bringing a dead body to life. (wikimedia commons)

She Carried Percy's Heart After His Death: After Percy Shelley drowned in 1822, his body was cremated. According to historical accounts, Mary kept his heart, reportedly unable to burn completely during the cremation, and preserved it among her possessions. The story has become one of the strangest details of her already extraordinary life, reflecting the intense grief she experienced after his death. (wikimedia commons)

Frankenstein Was Only the Beginning: Mary Shelley was far more than the author of one famous novel. She went on to write five more novels, including The Last Man, as well as travel writing, biographies, short stories, essays and poetry. Her 1826 novel The Last Man, about a future devastated by a pandemic, is another striking example of how far her imagination extended beyond Frankenstein. (amazon.in)