1. Mary Shelley – the author of “Frankenstein” By: Brianna Davis, Jamie Hyatt, Kara Siglin, and Gaurika Mester

2. Family Life Mary’s parents were William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft who were both known as two great intellectual rebels of the 1790’s. Both of her parents were well known and respected authors. 11 days after her birth, Mary’s mother died of fever leaving William to care for Mary and her 3 –year- old half sister, Fanny Imlay. Mary Shelley grew extremely close to her father as he was the sole caretaker for her in the early years of her life. However, Godwin met another lady and fell in love with her. This lady had two kids, which soon became Mary’s step siblings. Mary’s stepmother was jealous of the close bond that Mary and her father shared and forced Mary to do all the house chores.

3. Family Life, Continued Mary never received a formal education, but she had access to her father’s excellent library and to the intelligent conversations her father had with their houseguests. She was taught by reading multiple books at a time and the books she picked were usually of a higher intelligence level than most kids her age.

4. Her Married Life Percy and Mary Shelley met one day when Percy went to visit the Godwin house to talk to Mary’s father. He briefly met Mary when she was fourteen, and though nothing happened between the two, about two years later a love began to develop. In July 1814, when Mary was about seventeen, Percy left his wife and two children to travel with his new love, Mary. It was unusual that Mary and Percy didn’t follow the law; Percy abandoned his whole family and world to be with the young girl.

5. Married Life, Continued Though their bond was strong and they were both passionately in love, the years that followed were filled with trouble for the couple. Percy’s wealthy father cut off his allowance, delivering harsh punishment for leaving his family, and Mary and Peter had struggles with money. In 1816, Mary’s half-sister, Fanny, committed suicide. Also, weeks later, Percy’s previous wife drowned herself. When the couple tried to gain custody of Peter’s two children, their request was denied. Already devastated, the couple tried to have children and three died in infancy.

6. Ideas for Frankenstein On a rainy night in June 1816, Mary Shelley got together with some friends to read a French book of ghost stories. Gathering around the fire, inspired by this book, they each decided to write a ghost story of their own. Mary wanted to create a horrifying, chilling story that would outdo her friend’s stories. Even after they had all given up, Mary stuck with the idea, and in 1818, her thrilling tail got published as a novel.

7. THE END