With Notes and an Introduction by Dr Jenny DiPlacidi, University of Kent. 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William Godwin, was so disturbed after reading the manuscript that he refused to return it to her and it remained unpublished for over one hundred years.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