Treasures | The Fate of Frankenstein: Audio Guide

HOSTED BY NEIL GAIMAN

For the young English writer Mary Shelley, 1823 was a transformative year. It was the year in which, after an extended, traumatic period in Italy, she finally returned to London to stitch together the pieces of her broken life. It was also the year that—just when she needed it most—her career as an author was sparked by the unexpected appearance of a popular stage adaptation of her first novel, Frankenstein, which she had published years earlier to little fanfare. 

Learn more about this watershed year and what came next for Mary Shelley by listening to the audio guide for The Fate of Frankenstein, a special display within the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library's Treasures. Our host, the award-winning author and screenwriter Neil Gaiman, introduces a team of experts who shed light on some of the Library’s most remarkable holdings relating to Mary Shelley and her gothic masterpiece.

The Fate of Frankenstein will be on display at the Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building from October 2023 through June 2024. Explore more resources related to Mary Shelley and Frankenstein.