The first and most memorable work of Mary Shelley is her creation of Frankenstein, which she wrote during the summer of 1816 and published in 1818.
The sophomore novel of Shelley was Valperga. Mary returned to England in August 1823 to “find myself famous” with the reception of Valperga and a stage adaptation of Frankenstein. The Last Man (1826) is Shelley's best-known work after Frankenstein because it tackles the subject of mass catastrophe in society.
From 1829 to 1839, Mary began writing articles and stories for the Westminster Review, The Keepsake, and other publications. She worked again on her own novels and wrote notes to accompany her husband’s works. During this period The Life and Adventures of Castruccio, Prince of Lucca (1823), The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck (1830), Lodore (1835), and Falkner (1837) were all published. However, none would achieve the success and recognition that her earliest and best novel would achieve. By 1844, she had amassed enough notes from her travels with her son to publish them in two volumes called Rambles in Germany and Italy (1844).
