The next time someone tries to tell you science fiction isn’t for girls, quiet them down with one name: Mary Shelley, who invented the entire genre when she wrote the novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus at the age of nineteen. Born in 1797, Mary was the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, a renowned feminist writer and philosopher — and although her mother died only a few days after Mary was born, her radical ideas about women challenging their society had a huge impact on Mary’s life. At the age of sixteen, Mary fell in love with the poet Percy Shelley, who was a radical himself and a big fan of her mother’s writing. In 1814, following their first date in the graveyard where her mother was buried, Mary and Percy ran away together to become the literary power couple of the Romantic movement.

Enter Lord Byron, close friend of the Shelleys and infamous Romantic poet in his own right. One fateful summer at Byron’s villa in Switzerland saw the three of them (along with Byron’s doctor, John Polidori, and Mary’s stepsister, Claire Clairmont) spending long nights debating everything from art to politics to galvanism, also known as raising bodies from the dead using electricity (sound familiar?). During one especially creepy night, Byron challenged everyone to write a ghost story, and from that, the world’s first science fiction novel was born.

Frankenstein was published anonymously in 1818 with a preface by Percy Shelley, causing many to assume he was the author since writing books (especially a book like Frankenstein) wasn’t considered a woman’s profession. Following bestseller status and a successful stage adaptation, Mary set the record straight with the second edition in 1822, finally taking credit for her masterpiece. Almost 200 years later, she’d be thrilled to know that Frankenstein remains an iconic story that’s still being adapted today, with both movie and television versions coming out this fall.

1822 wasn’t just a year of success for Mary, but one of tragedy, too: Percy drowned in a shipwreck, leaving Mary widowed and heartbroken at age 24. She fought with Byron over which of them got to keep Percy’s preserved heart (Romantics!) and won, leaving Byron the skull instead.

Mary wasn’t finished transforming the literary world, however — not satisfied with inventing only one new genre, she decided to invent two. Her next book, The Last Man, is widely considered the first post-apocalyptic novel. A deeply personal work for Mary, The Last Man told the futuristic story of the lone survivor of a worldwide plague, critiqued many aspects of Romanticism, and featured characters inspired by Percy Shelley and Lord Byron. Although it received poor reviews on publication in 1826, The Last Man was republished in the 20th century to increased critical appreciation, being a very modern story with very contemporary themes. Mary Shelley, it seems, was always ahead of her time.

Who are your favorite trailblazing literary Smart Girls? Let us know in the comments below!

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