Mathilda and Other Stories

Mathilda is Mary Shelley’s haunting story of an incestuous and fatal love. The narrative traces the teenaged Mathilda’s reunion with her unnamed father, and the development of their obsessive bond that culminates in suicide. Shelley’s own father, William Godwin, was so disturbed after reading the manuscript that he refused to return it to her and it remained unpublished for over one hundred years. This near-forgotten and harrowing work encompasses the Romantic themes of the individual’s growth, isolation, and the power of imagination.

Shelley’s violent and terrifying short stories share Mathilda’s fixation with feminist concerns and Gothic conventions. The murderous plots and sinister settings of these later stories reveal Shelley’s ongoing preoccupation with the supernatural, transformation, and untamed nature.

Other Stories include:

A Tale of the Passions
The Bride of Modern Italy
Ferdinando Eboli
The Sisters of Albano
The Evil Eye
The False Rhyme
The Mourner
The Swiss Peasant
Transformation
The Dream
The Brother and Sister
The Invisible Girl
The Pole
The Mortal Immortal
The Elder Son
The Parvenue
The Pilgrims
Euphrasia
The Heir of Mondolfo