Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) is best known as the wife and widow of the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) and the author of Frankenstein, which she wrote at the tender age of nineteen. Shelley was also an accomplished writer of six other novels, a novella, mythological dramas, stories and articles, various travel books, and biographical studies. Equally important, Shelley acted as the editor of her deceased husband's works, contributing much to the understanding of his writings and pioneering the field of biographical-literary criticism.
In this engrossing biography, acclaimed novelist Muriel Spark recreates Shelley's turbulent life and career and persuasively defends the enigmatic writer's place among the giants of literary history.

Muriel Spark was the author of over twenty acclaimed novels, including The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Ballad of Peckham Rye, and Aiding and Abetting.