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Transformation
90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books
'He stretched out his two long, lank arms, that looked like spider’s claws, and seemed to embrace with them the expanse before him'
His inheritance squandered and engagement severed, Guido di Cortese stalks the desolate Genoese coast. A monstrous creature, shipwrecked by a ferocious storm, offers him unimaginable wealth to exchange bodies, entwining their fates. Transformation, with two further tales of striking and eerie power here, shows how Mary Shelley haunts us still.
'He stretched out his two long, lank arms, that looked like spider’s claws, and seemed to embrace with them the expanse before him'
His inheritance squandered and engagement severed, Guido di Cortese stalks the desolate Genoese coast. A monstrous creature, shipwrecked by a ferocious storm, offers him unimaginable wealth to exchange bodies, entwining their fates. Transformation, with two further tales of striking and eerie power here, shows how Mary Shelley haunts us still.
80 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 17, 2025
18 people are currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
2,342 books8,503 followersMary Shelley (née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, often known as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley) was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, travel writer, and editor of the works of her husband, Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. She was the daughter of the political philosopher William Godwin and the writer, philosopher, and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.
Mary Shelley was taken seriously as a writer in her own lifetime, though reviewers often missed the political edge to her novels. After her death, however, she was chiefly remembered only as the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley and as the author of Frankenstein. It was not until 1989, when Emily Sunstein published her prizewinning biography Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality, that a full-length scholarly biography analyzing all of Shelley's letters, journals, and works within their historical context was published.
The well-meaning attempts of Mary Shelley's son and daughter-in-law to "Victorianise" her memory through the censoring of letters and biographical material contributed to a perception of Mary Shelley as a more conventional, less reformist figure than her works suggest. Her own timid omissions from Percy Shelley's works and her quiet avoidance of public controversy in the later years of her life added to this impression.
The eclipse of Mary Shelley's reputation as a novelist and biographer meant that, until the last thirty years, most of her works remained out of print, obstructing a larger view of her achievement. She was seen as a one-novel author, if that. In recent decades, however, the republication of almost all her writings has stimulated a new recognition of its value. Her voracious reading habits and intensive study, revealed in her journals and letters and reflected in her works, is now better appreciated. Shelley's recognition of herself as an author has also been recognized; after Percy's death, she wrote about her authorial ambitions: "I think that I can maintain myself, and there is something inspiriting in the idea". Scholars now consider Mary Shelley to be a major Romantic figure, significant for her literary achievement and her political voice as a woman and a liberal.
Mary Shelley was taken seriously as a writer in her own lifetime, though reviewers often missed the political edge to her novels. After her death, however, she was chiefly remembered only as the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley and as the author of Frankenstein. It was not until 1989, when Emily Sunstein published her prizewinning biography Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality, that a full-length scholarly biography analyzing all of Shelley's letters, journals, and works within their historical context was published.
The well-meaning attempts of Mary Shelley's son and daughter-in-law to "Victorianise" her memory through the censoring of letters and biographical material contributed to a perception of Mary Shelley as a more conventional, less reformist figure than her works suggest. Her own timid omissions from Percy Shelley's works and her quiet avoidance of public controversy in the later years of her life added to this impression.
The eclipse of Mary Shelley's reputation as a novelist and biographer meant that, until the last thirty years, most of her works remained out of print, obstructing a larger view of her achievement. She was seen as a one-novel author, if that. In recent decades, however, the republication of almost all her writings has stimulated a new recognition of its value. Her voracious reading habits and intensive study, revealed in her journals and letters and reflected in her works, is now better appreciated. Shelley's recognition of herself as an author has also been recognized; after Percy's death, she wrote about her authorial ambitions: "I think that I can maintain myself, and there is something inspiriting in the idea". Scholars now consider Mary Shelley to be a major Romantic figure, significant for her literary achievement and her political voice as a woman and a liberal.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 15, 2025
mary shelley truly was the queen of gothic literature. maybe not as genius as her magnum opus but still great stories, specially the last one - the mortal imortal
September 9, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
October 17, 2025
i ❤️ mary shelley
mary shelley ❤️ an adopted orphan sibling romance
mary shelley ❤️ an adopted orphan sibling romance
July 7, 2025
I get that these were just short stories published for a journal but they were all just really meh. Get that bag girl. Although you can really see the themes she grappled with in Frankenstein resurfacing which is cool. But they're so boring if I'm being honest, and that's okay.
I'd recommend them for people who are intimidated by classics and want slightly simpler language and a glimpse into some Gothic themes though!
I'd recommend them for people who are intimidated by classics and want slightly simpler language and a glimpse into some Gothic themes though!
September 19, 2025
These three Gothic romances by the author of Frankenstein – ‘Gothick’ I should rather call them – simultaneously attract and repulse me; they are ‘horrid’ in the antique sense of a heightened awareness of the supernatural and the workings of Fate, but also horrid in the modern sense of composed of overly melodramatic language and plots.
But then, so too was Frankenstein which, one might argue, is redeemed in posterity’s view of it as being as much about philosophy as it’s about a dramatic narrative. But is there much of philosophy here in these short stories? If so, I’m afraid I’m not detecting it. Their nature is rather, I think, primarily about the audience they were aimed at.
They were published between 1831 and 1835 in The Keepsake, a quality illustrated annual which appeared every Christmas from 1827 to 1856, featuring short stories, essays and poetry. Aimed at a readership of young women, the contributions mayn’t necessarily have been intended as high literature, but many were by key writers such as Coleridge, Wordsworth, Scott, Southey and, of course, Mary Shelley.
The appeal to that audience is immediately evident in ‘Transformation’ (1831). A young Genoese nobleman grows up expecting to eventually marry the daughter of another nobleman, but what with one thing and another (things that in terms of the main narrative thrust are neither here nor there) he falls into dissolute ways, thereby squandering his family fortune. Cast out without a sou he witnesses a shipwreck on a desolate rocky shore, the only survivor of which is a misshapen human creature who, by means of magic, belatedly calms the tempest.
The next thing we know is the pair agree to change shapes for a limited period in exchange for the young man’s possession of the stranger’s treasure chest. When the period agreed ends and he doesn’t regain his shape, he returns in secret to Genoa to discover, horror of horrors, the stranger in the guise of the repentant young man about to marry his former fiancée. Will he regain his true visage and, himself truly repentant, fulfil his childhood dreams?
While the lad is absent abroad the girl is treated badly and in distress disappears from the Welsh mansion the family own, and is feared dead. Well, you can guess where this is heading: is there, unbeknownst to all, a connection between the missing girl, the portrait and the nobleman? Who can tell?
Winzy is yet another of Shelley’s love-lorn young men; mistaking his master’s description of the potion being a ‘cure for love’ as a kind of reverse love philtre instead of the Elixir of Life, he takes the crucial draught and has to suffer the inevitable consequence. Three centuries and more later he is an ‘immortal mortal’, with this story, as it were, his written confession. In fact he does get to marry the love of his life, but at what cost?
Just a couple of years before Shelley wrote Frankenstein (where Cornelius Agrippa in fact gets a mention) a not-so-young spinster called Jane Austen penned – though not for general publication – her spoof entitled ‘The Plan of a Novel’, riffing on the melodramatic tropes and styles that Shelley was to happily demonstrate here. And less than half a dozen years after Shelley’s death Marian Evans, the future George Eliot, was to constructively demolish the same tropes and styles in her essay ‘Silly Novels by Lady Novelists’.
The pieces that Shelley contributed to The Keepsake are examples of what we’d now call trashy fiction, fun in their way but with no pretentions to greatness. It matters not a jot if their action is set now or centuries ago; the exotic geographical settings, whether Italy, France, Germany or wild Wales, are interchangeable; essential ingredients might include spooky elements, wicked parental figures, constant jeopardy, and lovers who are separated by chance, Fate or human agency; and, almost inevitably, a key inciting incident will be a faux pas made by one or more of the protagonists.
Now, I’m aware that it’s a bit like a pot calling a kettle black but I shall say it anyway: Shelley, like other exponents in this genre, is prolix, and deliberately so. If someone is distressed, or thwarted, or unattractive, or cruel, then a few lengthy paragraphs or a couple of pages – preferably with an excess of exclamation marks! – is required to hammer home the point: it’s primarily about the emotions, rarely about a solution or a well-considered resolution.
But that’s often the nature of Gothick romance: when dealing with matters most horrid the language matter itself may strike us as verging on horrid.
But then, so too was Frankenstein which, one might argue, is redeemed in posterity’s view of it as being as much about philosophy as it’s about a dramatic narrative. But is there much of philosophy here in these short stories? If so, I’m afraid I’m not detecting it. Their nature is rather, I think, primarily about the audience they were aimed at.
They were published between 1831 and 1835 in The Keepsake, a quality illustrated annual which appeared every Christmas from 1827 to 1856, featuring short stories, essays and poetry. Aimed at a readership of young women, the contributions mayn’t necessarily have been intended as high literature, but many were by key writers such as Coleridge, Wordsworth, Scott, Southey and, of course, Mary Shelley.
The appeal to that audience is immediately evident in ‘Transformation’ (1831). A young Genoese nobleman grows up expecting to eventually marry the daughter of another nobleman, but what with one thing and another (things that in terms of the main narrative thrust are neither here nor there) he falls into dissolute ways, thereby squandering his family fortune. Cast out without a sou he witnesses a shipwreck on a desolate rocky shore, the only survivor of which is a misshapen human creature who, by means of magic, belatedly calms the tempest.
The next thing we know is the pair agree to change shapes for a limited period in exchange for the young man’s possession of the stranger’s treasure chest. When the period agreed ends and he doesn’t regain his shape, he returns in secret to Genoa to discover, horror of horrors, the stranger in the guise of the repentant young man about to marry his former fiancée. Will he regain his true visage and, himself truly repentant, fulfil his childhood dreams?
‘This slender narrative has no pretensions to the regularity of a story, or the development of situations and feelings; it is but a slight sketch . . .’The theme of young lovers torn apart recurs in ‘The Invisible Girl’ (1833). Here we have a frame narrative of a traveller coming upon a seemingly ruined turret on the Welsh coast overlooking the Irish Sea. Within the ruin he finds comfortable accommodation and a mysterious portrait identified as the invisible girl. The story he’s told is of a young nobleman, English this time, cast onto the self-same shore during a storm who seeks shelter with his companions in a desolate tower. His own story is of a childhood friend who he hoped to marry, were it not for the machinations of his blind father and vicious aunt.
While the lad is absent abroad the girl is treated badly and in distress disappears from the Welsh mansion the family own, and is feared dead. Well, you can guess where this is heading: is there, unbeknownst to all, a connection between the missing girl, the portrait and the nobleman? Who can tell?
‘July 26, 1833. — This is a memorable anniversary for me; on it I complete my three hundred and twenty-third year!‘Finally, in this trio of hyperbolic romances we’re offered ‘The Mortal Immortal’ (1834). Published on the eve of the three-hundredth anniversary of the death of Renaissance philosopher and reputed alchemist Cornelius Agrippa, the story is a version of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice tale, allied with the folktale motif of the lowly servant who tastes the adept’s potion at the precise moment it comes to fruition, thus gaining supernatural powers or arcane knowledge. Shelley’s tale involves one of Agrippa’s apprentices with the unlikely but whimsical name of Winzy (I guess a form of Wenzel or Wenceslas).
Winzy is yet another of Shelley’s love-lorn young men; mistaking his master’s description of the potion being a ‘cure for love’ as a kind of reverse love philtre instead of the Elixir of Life, he takes the crucial draught and has to suffer the inevitable consequence. Three centuries and more later he is an ‘immortal mortal’, with this story, as it were, his written confession. In fact he does get to marry the love of his life, but at what cost?
Just a couple of years before Shelley wrote Frankenstein (where Cornelius Agrippa in fact gets a mention) a not-so-young spinster called Jane Austen penned – though not for general publication – her spoof entitled ‘The Plan of a Novel’, riffing on the melodramatic tropes and styles that Shelley was to happily demonstrate here. And less than half a dozen years after Shelley’s death Marian Evans, the future George Eliot, was to constructively demolish the same tropes and styles in her essay ‘Silly Novels by Lady Novelists’.
The pieces that Shelley contributed to The Keepsake are examples of what we’d now call trashy fiction, fun in their way but with no pretentions to greatness. It matters not a jot if their action is set now or centuries ago; the exotic geographical settings, whether Italy, France, Germany or wild Wales, are interchangeable; essential ingredients might include spooky elements, wicked parental figures, constant jeopardy, and lovers who are separated by chance, Fate or human agency; and, almost inevitably, a key inciting incident will be a faux pas made by one or more of the protagonists.
Now, I’m aware that it’s a bit like a pot calling a kettle black but I shall say it anyway: Shelley, like other exponents in this genre, is prolix, and deliberately so. If someone is distressed, or thwarted, or unattractive, or cruel, then a few lengthy paragraphs or a couple of pages – preferably with an excess of exclamation marks! – is required to hammer home the point: it’s primarily about the emotions, rarely about a solution or a well-considered resolution.
But that’s often the nature of Gothick romance: when dealing with matters most horrid the language matter itself may strike us as verging on horrid.
September 12, 2025
great tales by a great writer—a little dull at times (particularly the second story) but overall very enjoyable
August 1, 2025
3.5 - so interesting how Shelley describes things that are unnatural looking
August 3, 2025
Transformation (noun) a marked change in form, nature, or appearance.
In this short story collection Shelley takes readers on a journey of the duality of human nature by the sea, love, mystery & isolation in a tower & lastly the consequences of immortality. Not all is doom & gloom as Shelley shows the potential of self discovery through confronting inner demons.
In the title story, Transformation Shelley thematically explores greed, ambition , revenge, identity, betrayal, the duality of human nature, consequences to bad actions & transformation of the both physical & moral. Like later gothic works with similar ideals such as Jekyll & Hyde, The picture if Dorian gray & even Shelley’s Frankenstein, in transformation Guido’s ugly soul becomes his outward appearance. Blinded by his greed & desire Guido makes a deal with a somewhat devil figure. The creature in this story is Guido’s monstrous double. I really love the moral of this story. There’s some really beautiful passages on nature which fit perfectly alongside a rich atmosphere which oozes gothic. Shelley’s prose is eloquent.
The immortal girl would have made a fantastic film starring Vincent Price. I can’t really explain it but whilst reading it I had that feeling. This story is just the epitome of gothic romance. I really liked this one but I think I found it a little slow but it has great atmosphere & gothic setting ( I LOVED the setting) I liked that Shelley played with the idea of the supernatural throughout it added a great sense of unease & mystery. Thematically it explores love, social class, family,isolation & despair.
The mortal immortal is the last story in this small collection. My memory of this one is more hazy than the others ( I read this back in June). In this tale Shelley explores the darker side of immortality & its consequences. Similar to Frankenstein it also delves into untamed scientific ambition.
In this short story collection Shelley takes readers on a journey of the duality of human nature by the sea, love, mystery & isolation in a tower & lastly the consequences of immortality. Not all is doom & gloom as Shelley shows the potential of self discovery through confronting inner demons.
In the title story, Transformation Shelley thematically explores greed, ambition , revenge, identity, betrayal, the duality of human nature, consequences to bad actions & transformation of the both physical & moral. Like later gothic works with similar ideals such as Jekyll & Hyde, The picture if Dorian gray & even Shelley’s Frankenstein, in transformation Guido’s ugly soul becomes his outward appearance. Blinded by his greed & desire Guido makes a deal with a somewhat devil figure. The creature in this story is Guido’s monstrous double. I really love the moral of this story. There’s some really beautiful passages on nature which fit perfectly alongside a rich atmosphere which oozes gothic. Shelley’s prose is eloquent.
The immortal girl would have made a fantastic film starring Vincent Price. I can’t really explain it but whilst reading it I had that feeling. This story is just the epitome of gothic romance. I really liked this one but I think I found it a little slow but it has great atmosphere & gothic setting ( I LOVED the setting) I liked that Shelley played with the idea of the supernatural throughout it added a great sense of unease & mystery. Thematically it explores love, social class, family,isolation & despair.
The mortal immortal is the last story in this small collection. My memory of this one is more hazy than the others ( I read this back in June). In this tale Shelley explores the darker side of immortality & its consequences. Similar to Frankenstein it also delves into untamed scientific ambition.
November 17, 2025
“I felt myself changed to a shape of horror, and cursed my easy faith and blind credulity. The chest was there - there the gold and precious stones for which I had sold the frame of flesh which nature had given me. The sight a little stilled my emotions: three days would soon be gone. […] Oh expectation, what a frightful thing art thou, when kindled more by fear than hope! How dost thou twist thyself round the heart, torturing its pulsations! How dost thou dart unknown pangs all through our feeble mechanism, now seeming to shiver us like broken glass, to nothingness”. Mary Shelley’s Transformation brings together three excellent eerie shorts from one of Gothic horror’s great pioneers; first is the title story, which features a freaky Faustian pact and some delicious melodrama. “I had been fascinated to gaze till the end: at last I sank on my knees - I covered my face with my hands.” This is followed by ‘The Invisible Girl’ (“This slender narrative has no pretensions to the regularity of a story, or the development of situations and feelings; it is but a slight sketch, delivered nearly as it was narrated to me by one of the humblest of the actors concerned”), and finally ‘The Mortal Immortal’: “Death! mysterious, ill-visaged friend of weak humanity! Why alone of all mortals have you cast me from your sheltering fold? Oh, for the peace of the grave! the deep silence of the iron-bound tomb! that thought would cease to work in my brain, and my heart beat no more with emotions varied only by new forms of sadness! Am I immortal?” So good. Thanks again to Maria and Penguin for another Penguin Archive book!
May 22, 2025
It has three short stories: Transformation a man who transformed -switched his body in exchange for gold... a very enjoyable story
The Invisible Girl: two lovers being reunited... meh 😕
The Mortal Immortal was the best read of them all. A page turner about the blessing of being mortal
The Invisible Girl: two lovers being reunited... meh 😕
The Mortal Immortal was the best read of them all. A page turner about the blessing of being mortal
June 16, 2025
Shelley’s writing lends itself better for longer stories.
July 9, 2025
3.5 ⭐
short, weird stories are fun, but I think I've been spoiled by sci-fi shorts that really knock you on your 🍑.
short, weird stories are fun, but I think I've been spoiled by sci-fi shorts that really knock you on your 🍑.
August 10, 2025
hmmmm
August 10, 2025
transformation - 4
the invisible girl - 3
the mortal immortal - 4
the invisible girl - 3
the mortal immortal - 4
August 22, 2025
Every interesting to read her other works. the collection of her short stories in her were a nice fun read
October 19, 2025
last story was my fav
October 19, 2025
Mary shelley queen of gothic literature
October 31, 2025
Leaning more towards 3.5 stars
November 19, 2025
Lovely doses of the themes she draws out in Frankenstein. Daft and dramatic men who want to have it all throw a tantrum when they find out they can’t.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews