In "Frankenstein" - the story of an ambitious young scientist and the monster he unleashes - Mary Shelley (1797-1851) questions the mystery of nature and the "principle of life". She provides a moral comment on the industrial age.

Three novels, two by Mary Wollstonecraft and one by her daughter, Mary Shelley, here published together for the first time. In "Mary", the author expresses her ideas on female emancipation and extends them in "Maria". "Matilda" relates the story of a father's incestuous desire for his daughter.