Mathilda

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"Mathilda" by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley is a novella written between 1819 and 1820. Narrating from her deathbed, a young woman reveals the dark secret behind her isolation: her father's confession of incestuous love and his subsequent suicide. Written during Shelley's own profound grief after losing two children, this Gothic tale explores forbidden desire, guilt, and emotional withdrawal. The story follows Mathilda's lonely existence and her friendship with the poet Woodville, who cannot prevent her tragic decline.

Summary written by Project Gutenberg, by machine.