Lady Audley's Secret

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The Victorian Sensation Novel - Rated
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 - Rated
'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 - Rated
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.

Beautiful book, beautiful heroine. - Rated
Mary Elizabeth Braddon wrote some eighty novels of which only a tiny handful remain in print today; and yet, given the terrific quality of Lady Audley's Secret, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a few more of Braddon's books creep back onto the list of acknowledged Victorian classics over the next few years. With stage shows and TV adaptations of sensational Victorian literature doing big business Mary Elizabeth Braddon is ripe for rediscovery. She could certainly write and her female characters in particular are beautifully vivid and well-realised.

Without wishing to give away the admittedly slightly convoluted and twisted plot (but twisted in the best possible fashion!) Lady Audley's Secret concerns the shady and vague past of one Lucy Graham who becomes, on marriage to an elderly baronet, the Lady Audley of the title. Beautiful, intelligent, manipulative and cunning she completely dominates the novel, easily out-shining the various po-faced and rather priggish males who try to uncover her distinctly iffy past and bring her to some sort of justice. Braddon possibly over-cooked the character of Lady Audley, making her so endlessly fascinating that she continually captures the reader's sympathy in spite of behaving in a downright devious, sinister and occasionally murderous fashion. She dominates every scene in which she appears to the extent one actually hopes she gets away with her nefarious activities and that her Nemesis, the rather dreary and humourless Robert Audley - the sort of single issue bore you really wouldn't want to be stuck with at a party - finds himself abandoned and ignored by all concerned.

The novel contains some exquisite set pieces, in particular a scene in which a Pre-Raphelite painting of Lady Audley is discussed in a fashion that actually touches on an idea developed years later by Oscar Wilde in The Picture of Dorian Gray. It seems the artist, in portraying the exquisite beauty of Lady Audley slightly marred by a sinister curl to the lip, has caught the essence, rather than the physical actuality, of his model. Something unconsciously felt, rather than seen, has been given a literal representation.

The plotting is quite leisurely, but even the passages which could be regarded as padding are not without interest and some fine descriptive writing, and the female characters in the book are all considerably more interesting than the males which can on occasion give things a slightly lopsided feel, but taken as a whole it's a wonderful novel which thoroughly deserved the considerable success it achived on its first publication. The critics in the Victorian press were sniffy, but Henry James - who knew a thing or two about fine writing - was a fan. Give it a go. If you like your literature as fragrant as a rose garden in high summer you won't be disappointed.

Great fun - Rated
A wonderful Victorian melodrama. Full of intrigue, suspense and heaving bodices! If you can suspend your disbelief and throw yourself into the plot with abandon you will really enjoy this book.