A fictionalized autobiography of the woman who wrote Frankenstein Two centuries ago a twentyyearold woman invented science fiction Her father gave her a better education than any woman of the age could hope forand made her the victim of ongoing incest At fifteen she became involved with one of the greatest poets in England and made love to him on her mothers grave When she was sixteen she escaped from home by running away for a sixweek walking tour of Europe and shared Percy Bysshe Shelley with her sister And her mentor Lord Byron challenged her to prove she was as good a writer as the best poetphilosophers of the Enlightenment Both men admired her mind and both wanted more She would publish a book that changed the worldand this historical novel imagines her inner life as a woman far ahead of her time