Visitors to the Keats-Shelley House often ask what Mary Shelley's life was really like, especially following the death of her beloved husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley.

This new temporary exhibition at the Keats-Shelley House will examine fragments of her life, and of other female figures connected with her. In turns tragic and melancholy, but always fascinating, the exhibition offers a glimpse into the real conditions of women's lives from the late 18^th to the early 19th centuries.

Visitors will also have the chance to see a series of eight manuscripts from the Bodleian Library of Oxford University. It is the first time in its 100+ year history that the museum at the foot of the Spanish Steps has borrowed items from a major international lending institution.

The research for the exhibition has been extensive and many of the letters from the archive of the Keats-Shelley House archive have never been seen before.

Keats-Shelley House, Piazza di Spagna 26, tel. 066784235, www.keats-shelley-house.org.