Mary Shelley, an English author, wrote the novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, in 1818. Frankenstein is the narrative of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who produces a sentient monster in an unconventional scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the narrative at 18, and at 20, she anonymously published the first edition in London on January 1, 1818. The second edition, published in Paris in 1821, first mentioned her name. Frankenstein incorporates aspects of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement, and the work has had a significant impact on literature and popular culture, inspiring a whole genre of horror stories, films, and plays. Since the novel's publication, people have frequently incorrectly used the name "Frankenstein" to refer to the monster instead of his creator or parent.

Shelley's efforts to publish her husband's works and her novel Frankenstein, which remains widely read and has inspired numerous theatrical and film versions, were her most notable achievements until the 1970s. Recent scholarship has provided a more comprehensive understanding of Shelley's accomplishments. Scholars are becoming interested in her literary output, particularly her novels, which include the historical novels Valperga (1823) and Perkin Warbeck (1830), the apocalyptic novel The Last Man (1826), and her last two novels, Lodore (1835) and Falkner (1837).