Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851) was an English novelist, dramatist, and short story writer, universally known for her Gothic novel “Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus.” The novel “Falkner” focuses on the character of Elizabeth Raby, raised under the infl uence of her foster-father Rupert Falkner. When he is acquitted of murdering her lover’s mother, Elizabeth tries to do all she can to reconcile the two men she loves. The book’s story and resolution propose the triumph of female values over violent masculinity.