Mary Shelley was only 18 when she wrote Frankenstein...

When reading Frankenstein, it's simple to think that the book was written by a more experienced, more senior author. Mary Shelley was only a teenager when she actually wrote it which is an interesting fact about Mary Shelley. She wrote it in response to Lord Byron's challenge to her to write a ghost story while they were vacationing in Switzerland. Lord Byron is a fellow author and a close friend.

Frankenstein, however, did not enjoy quick popularity; it was turned down by three publishers until the Lackington Company decided to publish it. It was released in early 1818 with an unidentified author listed. It would be another five years before Mary Shelley's name appeared beside the renowned Gothic novel. Readers who like the gothic moral story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster quickly adopted Frankenstein as one of their favorites.

Numerous reviews that were written after the book's initial release attacked the plot, with one written in 1818 by John Wilson Croker claiming that the book "inculcates no lesson of conduct, manners, or morality; it cannot mend, and will not even amuse its readers unless their taste has been deplorably vitiated." Nevertheless, despite criticism from certain reviewers, Frankenstein was a big hit with readers at the time who adored the gothic tale that swiftly became a classic work of literature.