Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851) was born in London, England, to William Godwin, a leading radical thinker of his time, and Mary Wollstonecraft, the famous women's rights activist who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (page 737). After Mary's mother died in childbirth, the little girl and her four siblings were raised by a stepmother. When she was fourteen, Mary was sent to Dundee, Scotland, to live with the family of one of her father's admirers. She lived there happily for two years and returned to London at age sixteen.

In London she met Percy Bysshe Shelley and soon eloped with him to Europe, despite her father's protests. The young couple faced many challenges, both financial and personal. Their first three children died before Mary was twenty-one, and several of the couple's close relatives died untimely deaths during this period as well.

In this time of personal upheaval, Mary was inspired to write. She spent long hours discussing ideas with Lord Byron and Percy, and during this period wrote Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, which was eventually published in 1818.

The multiple tragedies in their lives, including the deaths of their children and several close friends, caused Mary to emotionally retreat from Percy during his last years. As a result of this estrangement, Mary felt deep guilt when her dear husband and co-worker died suddenly in 1822 in a boating accident. She is largely responsible for preserving Percy's work by annotating and publishing several editions after his death.

During the remaining twenty-five years of her life, Mary wrote five more novels, twenty-five short tales, and several volumes of literary criticism.