Catherine Reef 
Mary Shelley 
The Strange True Tale of Frankenstein’s Creator

This YA biography offers “a thorough, sensitive portrayal of one of literature’s most remarkable authors, illustrated with period portraits and engravings” (Kirkus).   Most famous for her iconic tale of gothic horror, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley led a life that could itself have been a gothic novel. This “fascinating, scandal-rich” biography recounts a story full of drama, death, and one of the strangest romances in literary history (Booklist).   Raised by her father, the political philosopher William Godwin, Shelley ran away to Lake Geneva with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley when she was only sixteen years old. It was there, during a cold and wet summer, that she first imagined her story about a mad scientist who brought a corpse back to life. Success soon followed for Mary, but also great tragedy and misfortune.   In Mary Shelley, Catherine Reef brings this passionate woman, brilliant writer, and forgotten feminist into crisp focus, detailing a life that was remarkable both before and after the publication of her immortal masterpiece.