Matilda is the title under which Mary Shelley's short novel Mathilda has also appeared. Written around 1819 and 1820, it was not published until 1959. The title character writes an account of her life while she is close to death. She recalls a childhood without her mother and a distant father who returns, and a bond between them that becomes a source of dread and guilt. It is an intimate, sorrowful work about grief, secrecy and isolation.