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The 1818 Text (Penguin Classics)
by Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley's classic novel, presented in its original 1818 text, with an introduction from National Book Critics Circle award-winner Charlotte Gordon.
The original 1818 text of Frankenstein preserves the hard-hitting and politically-charged aspects of Shelley's original writing, as well as her unflinching wit and strong female voice. This edition also emphasizes Shelley's relationship with her mother—trailblazing feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, who penned A Vindication of the Rights of Woman—and demonstrates her commitment to carrying forward her mother's ideals, placing her in the context of a feminist legacy rather than the sole female in the company of male poets, including Percy Shelley and Lord Byron.
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (10/16/2025)
I am reading Love, Sex and Frankenstein by Caroline Lea. She has made Byron, Shelley and Mary Shelley three of the most unlikeable characters in recent reads!! Really liked The River is Waiting (Wally Lamb) and All the Colors of the Dark. At my book club we were talking about our mothers not lett...
-Barbette_T
What are you reading this week? (11/14/2024)
I am reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for the first time! I am reading both the print book and listening to the audiobook. I decided to do a reading project for November, so I am reading Frankenstein and other books related to it.
-Bridget_Smith
"Gordon's framing is the real standout of the anniversary edition (…) Highly recommended." —The New York Times Book Review
"Frankenstein is as efficient and resonant a reference today as it was in 1818... In this bicentennial year, much will be written about Frankenstein, its adaptations, and whether there exists a definitive or superior version of the novel... The 1818 Text is reflective of the thrill and nervous energy that ushered in a new era of science and society... But part of what makes it a little unsettling is what makes it so interesting: The chance to watch a 200-year-old novel develop. In a story that's reflected so much of the last two hundred years, and centers so much on choices, storytelling, and the potential for change, it only makes sense that Frankenstein reflects changes within its own creator" —NPR
This information about Frankenstein was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Mary Shelley was born in London in 1797, daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, famous radical writers of the day. In 1814 she met and soon fell in love with the then-unknown Percy Bysshe Shelley. In December 1816, after Shelley's first wife committed suicide, Mary and Percy married. They lived in Italy from 1818 until 1822, when Shelley drowned, whereupon Mary returned to London to live as a professional writer of novels, stories, and essays until her death in 1851.
If you liked Frankenstein, try these:
by Samantha Silva
Published 2022
From the acclaimed author of Mr. Dickens and His Carol, a richly-imagined reckoning with the life of another cherished literary legend: Mary Wollstonecraft – arguably the world's first feminist.
by Dawn Davies
Published 2019
Discovered by Michael Ondaatje, Davies' dazzling literary memoir has shades of Mary Karr, Anne Lamott, and Jenny Lawson.
by Valerie Martin
Published 2015
A captivating, atmospheric return to historical fiction that is every bit as convincing and engrossing as Martin's landmark Mary Reilly.
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Two ambitious writers in 1960s LA face betrayal when one writes a novel based on the other's life.
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