Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" is my all-time favourite novel. I've read it so many times now that it feels like an old friend. Not the characters, but the novel itself.

One of the reasons that I love the story so completely is that it speaks to me in different ways depending on where I am in my own life. It never truly feels like I'm reading the same story but a slightly changed, slightly edited version that now shines new light and insight on one or more aspects or themes. I always find myself gaining a new perspective on the characters and their actions. 

It still blows my mind to think that Mary Shelley was only eighteen when she started to write it, but I also don't think anyone older could have written it either. It was her combination of idealistic youth, maternal tragedy (as a daughter and as a mother), second-class citizenry, and romanticism that allowed her to write such a powerful story.

"I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe." 
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein.