Although Percy Shelley and two of their four children died there, Italy became for Mary Shelley "a country which memory painted as paradise", as she put it.[4] The couple's Italian years were a time of intense intellectual and creative activity. Percy composed a series of major poems, and Mary wrote the autobiographical novel Matilda, the historical novel Valperga, and the plays Proserpine and Midas. Mary Shelley had always wanted to return to Italy and she excitedly planned her 1840 trip.[5] The return was painful as she was constantly reminded of Percy Shelley.[5]