Mary Godwin Wollstonecraft Shelley was an English novelist, best known for her Gothic masterpiece, "Frankenstein." Some synonyms for the famous author's name include Mary Shelley, Mary W. Shelley, and Mrs. Percy Bysshe Shelley. She was born in 1797 to philosopher William Godwin and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. Her mother passed away shortly after her birth, and Shelley was raised by her father and stepmother. At the age of 16, she fell in love with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and they eloped when she turned 18. Shelley went on to publish several other novels and stories throughout her career, but none have achieved the same level of fame and enduring popularity as "Frankenstein".