Product Description

With an Introduction by Catherine Wells-Cole The flaxen-haired beauty of the child-like Lady Audley would suggest that she has no secrets. But M.E. Braddon's classic novel of sensation uncovers the truth about its heroine in a plot involving bigamy, arson and murder. It challenges assumptions about the nature of femininity and investigates the narrow divide between sanity and insanity, using as its focus one of the most fascinating of all Victorian heroines. Combining elements of the detective novel, the psychological thriller and the romance of upper class life, Lady Audley's Secret was one of the most popular and successful novels of the nineteenth century.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11398 in Books
• Published on: 1997-09-25
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Chris Willis, Birkbeck College
"This impressive, scholarly new edition brings together a wealth of supplementary material, much of which is almost unobtainable elsewhere...invaluable."

Synopsis
The flaxen-haired beauty of the child-like Lady Audley would suggest that she has no secrets. But M.E. Braddon's classic novel of sensation uncovers the truth about its heroine in a plot involving bigamy, arson and murder. It challenges assumptions about the nature of femininity and investigates the narrow divide between sanity and insanity, using as its focus one of the most fascinating of all Victorian heroines. Combining elements of the detective novel, the psychological thriller and the romance of upper class life, "Lady Audley's Secret" was one of the most popular and successful novels of the nineteenth century.

Book Information
Weathering critical sarcasm, Lady Audley's Secret (1862) quickly established Mary Elizabeth Braddon as the doyen of Victorian 'sensation' fiction, sharing the honour only with Wilkie Collins.

Addictive, cunningly plotted and certainly sensational, Lady Audley's Secret draws on contemporary theories of insanity to probe mid-Victorian anxiety and the doubts that accompanied the rapid rise of consumer culture.

What is the relationship between Mary Elizabeth Braddon's artful and charming heroine and a governess, a bigamist and a lunatic? Lady Audley's secret is investigated by Robert Dudley, aristocrat turned detective, in a novel that has lost none of its power to disturb and entertain.

'She may boast, without fear of contradiction, in having temporarily succeeded in making the literature of the Kitchen the favourite reading of the Drawing room.'

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Customer Reviews

The Victorian Sensation Novel
Having purchased this book because it was mentioned in another, non-fiction, book that I was reading, I was hooked from the first page and had read it over a long weekend - what joy - the story was gripping and the characters believable and I even felt sorry for the "villainess" of the story. The story cracked along at a tremendous pace and kept me engaged throughout.

If you enjoy the novels of Wilkie Collins, you will really enjoy this story.

Sensational
'Lady Audley's Secret' is one of the many (over eighty!) novels Mary Elizabeth Braddon wrote, and like many of them, this title first appeared in installments in popular magazines ('Robin Goodfellow' and the 'Sixpenny Magazine') before being published in 3 volumes in 1862.

'Lady Audley's Secret' is a quite spectacular read, with a very simple but equally effective plot: when the elderly baronet Sir Michael Audley marries the much younger ex-governess Lucy Graham and makes her the Lady Audley of the title, his nephew Robert Audley before long begins to suspect there's more to Lady Audley than meets the eye. The disappearance, during a stay at Audley Court, of his longtime friend George Talboys, triggers him to begin investigating her past.

The entire novel is dominated by these two opposing characters: Lady Audley as the beautiful heroine, cunning and willing to go to any length for her own position and advancement, and Robert Audley as the (until then) idle but nonetheless very capable barrister, who finds himself (for the first time in his life) compelled to take action. From mere acquaintances they slowly but inexorably develop into mortal enemies, as Robert peels away layer after layer of Lady Audley's secrets.

I cannot express how thoroughly I enjoyed this novel. The plot may develop slowly, but that gives all the more room for the develoment of the characters, and they are the main pojnt of this novel. Mary Elizabeth Braddon was until recently an author I had scarcely heard of, but I'm glad I discovered her, and will definitely try to find other works by her. Last but not least I should mention the fine introduction by Jenny Bourne Taylor and Russel Crofts, which gives a very good insight into the themes of 'Lady Audley's Secret' and its place in Victorian literature.

A Victorian Gem
There is a reason why Thackeray and Dickens were big fans of Mary Elizabeth Braddon. This novel is a Victorian gem!

Lucy Graham is a governess until she strikes it lucky and manages to charm Sir Michael Audley into marrying her. Apart from a tempestuous realtioship with her new step-daughter, Alicia, all is quiet at Audley Court until a visit from Sir Michael's neice and his friend George Tallboys.

George suddenly disappears, but there is more to the disappearance than meets the eye, and what is Lady Audley keeping to herself?

Blackmail, possible murder, arson and one of the greatest villanesses I've ever come across, this book has it all.

Suspend all disbelief and enjoy. Highly recommended.