Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley can justifiably be thought of as one of the few child prodigies in literature, alongside Arthur Rimbaud. She produced an enduring class, “Frankenstein”, at the tender age of 19, a work that continues to inform, warn and delight millions of people in the world today. The substance of Mary’s eventful life was, of course, incredibly influential in shaping her writing. This paper will assess the role of Mary’s life in her writing, and examine how the two interacted.