Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was an English novelist best
known for her groundbreaking work,
Frankenstein. Born in London on
August 30, 1797, Shelley was immersed in the literary world from a young age.
Early Life and Influences
Mary Shelley’s parents were Mary Wollstonecraft, an advocate
for women's rights, and her father, William Godwin, a political philosopher.
Tragically, Wollstonecraft died shortly after Mary's birth, leaving her to be
raised by her father.
As Mary grew, her father's home became a hub for intellectuals.
This environment, mixed with a vast array of books, fostered her literary
talents, and introduced her to the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, whom she would
later marry.
The Birth of Frankenstein
In 1816, Mary traveled to Lake Geneva in Switzerland to
spend the summer with Percy, their infant son, her stepsister, Claire
Clairmont, Lord Byron, and Doctor John Polidori. At the time, Claire was
pregnant by Lord Byron, the groundbreaking poet whose personal affairs had made
him one of England’s most controversial celebrities.
After arriving in Lake Geneva, they found the area covered
in fog from the Mount Tambora volcano eruption in Indonesia. The eruption
killed 100,000 people. A million others starved while many died from a global
cholera pandemic unleashed in the aftermath.
Some of Europe’s greatest artists created
their darkest
works during these dismal days. Mary Shelley was among them.
Since the weather was cold and stormy, the group stayed
inside the
Villa
Diodati, the stately mansion Bryon had rented. They were left to entertain
themselves with ghost stories and horror books. One night, as they sat in
candlelit darkness, Lord Byron challenged each person to write a horror story,
better than what they had just read.
Polidori accepted Bryon’s challenge and wrote The Vampyre. The short fiction was published in
1819 and is the first to include a blood-sucking hero, possibly modeled on
Byron himself.
As the days passed, Mary conceived the idea of Frankenstein.
She envisioned a scientist who creates life only to be horrified by his
creation. This concept was influenced as thunder and lightning echoed outside
the villa and conversations turned to whether human corpses could be galvanized
or re-animated, after death, a morbid topic of the time.
Legacy and Impact
Shelley began writing Frankenstein at age
18. She included the eerie setting of Villa Diodati and the poet’s
conversations. The novel was published anonymously in 1818. It wasn't until the
second edition, published in 1821, that her name appeared on the title page.
Throughout her life, Mary continued to write novels and
short stories. She passed away on February 1, 1851. Of the group only, Mary and
Claire lived past age 50. Polidori committed suicide in 1821. Percy Shelley
drowned at age 29 in 1822. Byron took the daughter he had with Claire and sent
her to a convent. She died there in 1822 at age 5. Byron died in 1824 after
contracting a fever and Mary’s infant son lived to age 70.
But the book inspired by that stormy summer and
its life-after-death stories still live on today. Frankenstein is
considered one of the first science fiction novels. Its impact is immense,
spawning adaptations in film, theater, and other media.
June also carries a sense of celebration. Schools mark the
end of the academic year with graduations, weddings fill the month with joy,
and for many families, it signals the beginning of summer vacations. My husband
and I just took a major RV trip through nine states in eleven days, so we are
not planning another big getaway right now. Still, I do plan to take time off
at the end of the month to enjoy our beach house in the Outer Banks of North
Carolina. I also have outdoor book signings scheduled with author friends,
including my favorite annual event at a wine and craft festival, which is
always fun. 
.jpg%202.jpg)
