Mary Shelley's authorship of the novel Frankenstein guaranteed her wide-spread renown, but her turbulent life and other literary works are equallyfascinating. Born in 1797 to the writers Mary Wollstonecraft and WilliamGodwin. she inherited her parents' passion for literature, social justice, andwomen's rights. At the age of just sixteen she ran away with Romantic poetPercy Bysshe Shelle）, and was widowed by twenty-four. During their eightyears together （living mainly in Italy）, she was estranged from her family andsometimes from her husband, suffered periods of depression, and saw threeof their four children die in infancy. Despite her troubles, Mary Shelley main-tained a busy social life, including a complicated friendship with the poetI,ord Byron. She also wrote journals, short stories, mythical dramas, andseveral novels, including Frankenstein. After her husband's death in 1822 shereturned to England with her surviving son. She continued to write, both inorder to earn a living and to satisfy her literary ambitions. She also producedmajor editions of" her husband's poetry and prose.Martin Garrett's engaging biography - extensively illustrated with originalletters and manuscripts - captures the extraordinary life of Mary Shelley andthe social circle in which she moved. Theauthor also discusses some of MaryShelley'slesser-known writings, longneglected but now the subject of continuing critical attention. 作者简介： Martin Garrett has written extensively onboth nineteenth-century and Renais-sance literature. His recent booksinclude two titles in The British LibraryWriters' Lives series - George Gordon. LordByron （2000） and Elizabeth Barrett Brown-ing and Robert Browning （2001） - andVenic: A Cultural and Literary Companion（Signal Books, 2001）. He is also theauthor of A MaryShelley. Chronology,（Palgrave Macmillan. 2001）.