14. Despite Frankenstein’s success, Mary gained very little financially. However, she kept on writing.
On Mary’s return to England, she was pleased to discover Frankenstein was a great success. The book had been well received by the press and public. It had even been turned into a play: Presumption or The Fate of Frankenstein by Richard Brinsley Peake. In total, Mary’s profits from the early editions of the book amounted to forty-one pounds, thirteen shillings, and ten pence. However, as Mary gave most of her earnings from Frankenstein to her father- as well as the proceeds from her novel Valperga, she did not make much money from her creation’s success.
Valperga was just one of the many novels and stories Mary wrote in Italy before Shelley’s death. The novel, which centered on Casruccio Casttracani, an Italian soldier of fortune was Mary’s way of capturing the Italian landscape in words instead of images. Others stories included Valerius the Reanimated Roman, a tale of a Roman brought back to life in Mary’s day and Mathilda, a novel about a young woman with a troubled relationship with her father.
However, once back in England, Mary’s writing was essential to her and young Percy’s economic survival. Sir Timothy, Shelley’s father, had finally, grudgingly given her an allowance of £200 a year- to be paid back to his estate after his death. So Mary had no choice but to supplement this money by writing articles for periodicals such as The Westminster Review and short stories for an annual called The Keepsake. Mary also continued to write novels. After The last Man, Mary she published three: The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck in 1830, Lodore in 1835 and finally Falkner.