We all know the story of Frankenstein from multiple movies. But do you know the real story of Frankenstein? It might help if we knew more about the author of Frankenstein. Mary Shelley was born August 30, 1797, in London England. Her father was a philosopher and political writer, William Godwin, and her mother was a famed feminist. When Shelley was only 11 days old, her mother died and was raised by her father. In 1801, her father remarried to Mary Jane Clairmont and gained new siblings from the marriage. Shelly’s stepmother didn’t much care for her. She refused to let Shelley get an education but let all her siblings gain one. When Mary Shelley was sixteen, she fell in love with famed poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and they run away together. The couple was married in 1816. They lost many of their children due to illnesses and other causes. One night, to entertain themselves, Shelley and her friends read horror stories to one another. One friend, Lord Byron, suggested a horror story writing competition between the friends. Mary Shelley came up with the idea for Frankenstein for that competition. In 1818 she had it published.  

The book starts with a crew on a ship stranded in the Arctic Ocean when him and his crew see a huge man on a dog sleigh until he disappears. Soon after, they see a regular sized man on a dog sled not far behind. This man is exhausted and near death. The ship’s crew invites the man on to the ship, to warm up and eat. The man introduces himself as Victor Frankenstein, they ask him about the other man and Frankenstein starts telling them the story of his monster. Frankenstein goes to college to study science, where he finds the secret to bringing someone back to life. He decides to make a person out of parts that he gets from a graveyard. When the monster comes to life, Frankenstein is so terrified of it, that he runs away. When he gets back to the school, he grows ill all winter long. When Frankenstein gets better in the spring, he gets a letter from home saying that his brother has been murdered and a servant has been convicted as the murderer. As Frankenstein goes home, he sees the monster from afar and instantly knows that he has killed his brother. But the servant is sentenced to death for the murder, because they found a locket that the little boy had in her pocket. Later that year, Frankenstein goes on a trip with his family, and while he is hiking by himself, he runs into the monster he had created all those months ago. The monster insists that he listen to his story. 

Next week, the second part to the story of Frankenstein will be revealed. So far in the story, there are lots of differences from all the movies that have been made. Read next week to learn the monster’s side of the story.