Lady Audley's Secret. Mary Elizabeth Braddon

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Lady Audley's Secret. Mary Elizabeth Braddon

3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 · rating details · 5,367 ratings · 392 reviews

In this outlandish, outrageous triumph of Scandal fiction, a new Lady Audley arrives at the manor: young, beautiful - and very mysterious. Why does she behave so strangely? What, exactly, is the dark secret this seductive outsider carries with her?

A huge success in the nineteenth century, the book revels in an anti-heroine - with her good looks and hidden past - who embodi...more

Paperback, 490 pages

Published April 2012 by Penguin Books (first published 1862)

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Feb 12, 2013 mark monday rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: foggy-nights

whatever could be Lady Audley's secret? could it be... murder? miscegenation? malfeasance? misdirected malevolence ending in tears, tragedy, and general tawdriness? an assumed identity? flatulence? that not-so-fresh feeling? bigamy? bigotry? child abuse? child abandonment? une affaire de coeur? une affaire de blanchiment d'argent? well, all or some of those things may or may not be a part of this novel - but they are not the secret in question. Lady Audley's terrible, terrible secret is...
(view ...more whatever could be Lady Audley's secret? could it be... murder? miscegenation? malfeasance? misdirected malevolence ending in tears, tragedy, and general tawdriness? an assumed identity? flatulence? that not-so-fresh feeling? bigamy? bigotry? child abuse? child abandonment? une affaire de coeur? une affaire de blanchiment d'argent? well, all or some of those things may or may not be a part of this novel - but they are not the secret in question. Lady Audley's terrible, terrible secret is...
(view spoiler)

this ripping victorian yarn is a tale of deceit and possible death, of class barriers breached, a man gone missing, long-held love and quick infatuation, uptight upper class twits mercilessly skewered and drunken lower class buffoons broadly lampooned. it has brilliant and ambitious Lady Audley and her equally ambitious but rather less brilliant servant. it has one of the more charming protagonists i've come across - the lazy, well-meaning, animal-loving young barrister Robert Audley, whose favored activities are smoking his pipe and napping. it has mystery, intrigue, vengeance, and dark rainy nights where evil deeds are afoot. and hey, guess what, it subverts paradigms! sorta.

Mary Elizabeth Braddon was a popular writer of what appears to be a million potboilers during everyone's favorite english time period, The Victorian Era. nowadays she is practically unknown. that's rather sad because she deserves much better. the novel is stylish and very easy going down. it is the opposite of a tortuous experience - it is delightful! and beautifully written as well: a winding but briskly paced narrative with fascinating and often amusing characters, fun twists and turns, overstuffed with lavish description and poetic imagery, and - best of all - an ironically formal and sneakily caustic authorial voice. the wonderful wit in this novel is delicious. delicious! i just used that word to describe a novel! i feel like Oscar Wilde. or Dame Edna.

if you've read this one, then you know the real selling point: LADY AUDLEY ROCKS! the english class system is no barrier to her dreams. i'd hesitate to call her a feminist icon, but she knows how to make things happen and how to take care of business. such a great villainess. and i barely consider her to be villainous.

some spoilers follow ... but i'm still not giving away Lady Audley's secret. mainly because i think it is a rather tedious secret and one of the weaker elements of the novel.

i am confident that Braddon knew exactly what she was doing when she crafted the character of Lady Audley. this wondrous psychopath utterly rejects her so-called 'place in life' as some drudge in a small town. she uses the weapons she has at her disposal to get ahead: her doll-like beauty, her sweet and cheery smile that lights up a room and makes you feel like you are the most important person in that room, her perfect poise and her perfect manners, her truly phenomenal talent at lying, and her quick-thinking ability to promptly push an annoyingly threatening fellow right down a well. throughout the novel, i was 100% on Lady Audley's team. i love seeing class systems scorned by the underclass and i love seeing them mercilessly dismantled - even if it is a brief and inevitably foiled uprising. Spartacus!

so yeah, Lady Audley: i love her. her pride, her machinations, her capacity for violence, her elegant skill at avoiding public confrontations with annoying nobodies like resentful stepdaughters, clingy first husbands, and nosy young barristers. oh, Lady Audley, you are the dreamiest of mercenaries!

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Apr 06, 2009 Boof rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: british-authors, classics, read-in-2009, victorians, uk

This book was really good fun. A 19th century who-dunnit complete with beautiful but cunning villainess, rambling old houses and an upper-class layabout-turned-detective. Fabulous!

This was one of the first "sensation" novels ever written, and while it doesn't have the sophisticated and multi-layered plots of today that keep us guessing until the very end and on the edge of our seets, it is nonetheless a great page turner and so much fun. This book was originally serialised in a paper back in 186...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Sean rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011, 19th-century, gothic, victorian

This is a sadly forgotten but great 19th century sensation novel that rivals some of Wilkie Collins' best books such as The Woman in White and the Moonstone. Its also one of the first to feature a female villain which wasn't typical of early literature. Nevertheless, this dynamic creates an interesting character study which discusses female motives and what they are capable of despite their beauty and grace. This is a great book and it definitely needs to move closer to the top on your to-read l...more

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Apr 04, 2009 Misfit rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Since this is one of those books that to tell too much of the story would ruin it, I'm only giving you the bare bones. Baronet Sir Michael Audley takes himself a young, beautiful (but penniless) wife, but his eighteen year old daughter Alicia is not quite so enthralled with Lucy's charms. Sir Michael's nephew Robert Audley greets his old friend George Talboys on his return from the gold-fields of Australia, but George is anxious to reunite with the wife and child he left behind when he was unabl...more

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Jul 27, 2008 Eve rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Things are not always as they appear, if there's a lesson to be learned from this book...there it is in a nut shell. There was a major curve ball thrown at the end and I was pleasantly surprised. I guess this is what was considered "chick-lit" in the 1800s. Bigamy, murder, lunacy, etc. Good deal!

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Jul 27, 2010 Liz (Consumed by Books) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-star, classics, own

As you can tell from my status updates on GoodReads, this book took me a ridiculously long time to get through. It was actually for my Vic Lit book club (not school), and the week I had for Thanksgiving wound up being ridiculous, so I've only just had the chance to finish it. Despite the amount of time it took me to read Lady Audley's Secret, I really enjoyed it on the whole.

I have to say that the plot is a bit predictable. It's fairly easy to figure out what the basic idea is. With that being s...more As you can tell from my status updates on GoodReads, this book took me a ridiculously long time to get through. It was actually for my Vic Lit book club (not school), and the week I had for Thanksgiving wound up being ridiculous, so I've only just had the chance to finish it. Despite the amount of time it took me to read Lady Audley's Secret, I really enjoyed it on the whole.

I have to say that the plot is a bit predictable. It's fairly easy to figure out what the basic idea is. With that being said, I still really enjoyed it. What kept me reading was wanting to discover how exactly everything played out and learning more about the characters. I've always been a very analytical person who pays close attention to detail, so this was important to me. I also have to say that I enjoyed the way Braddon ended the novel.

I also need to confess to being a big fan of the Victorian writing style. It's a bit over the top for some people. I want to include this one quote which I thought was amazing for its style, diction, and its commentary on tea.

"The most feminine and most domestic of all occupations imparts a magic harmony to her every movement, a witchery to her every glance. The floating mists from the boiling liquid in which she infuses the soothing herbs, whose secrets are known to her alone, envelop her in a cloud of scented vapour, through which she seems a social fairy, weaving potent spells with Gunpowder and Bohea. At the tea-table she remains omnipotent, unapproachable. What do men know of this mysterious beverage?"

I also loved that the narrator referred to Lady Audley as "my lady" and that the word "mustachio" was used at several points throughout the novel.

Braddon's characterization is quite excellent in this book. I became invested in Robert in particular, as well as George and Clara, and really wanted things to work out for them.

Overall, this is a great read. If you're looking for a Victorian thriller, pick this up. You won't be disappointed!

Disclosure: I purchased a copy of this book.(less)

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Jun 08, 2012 bup rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, 2012, librivox, novel

Loved it. Not in that "wow, what a great piece of literature this hundred and fifty year old book is," but more like it's trashy and awesome and doesn't have a chapter 39. It skips right from 38 to 40. Probably because it's more lurid that way.

Also she calls the character Robert George at one point. Which I checked at all sources I could - apparently that's really not the narrator's issue - it's sic.

Lady Audley, girlfriend? Her secret's so big a Lady Sasquatch could use it for all-day protection...more

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Dec 03, 2012 SarahC rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of my more enjoyable reads of the Victorian era. A good story of an English gentleman on the trail of answers to his friend's disappearance. The young wife of his noble uncle becomes the unlikely center of his investigation. I like the way the wheels turn in this well written story. It was a page turner for me and I can see how the "sensational" Ms. Braddon was so popular in her day.

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Dec 01, 2008 JoAnn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008, mystery

A great psychological mystery. It was a lot of fun and I caught myself yelling at the protagonist, Robert Audley, who completely drove me nuts.

Honestly. How stupid can you be? Sure, it's a great idea to tell the person you suspect of murder that you suspect them, what and where your evidence is (so they can steal or destroy it again?) and who your witnesses are (they've probably killed once, what's to stop them again?). Smart. Then it dawns on him that maybe his suspect could turn all this again...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Zulu rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was surprisingly good! I say surprisingly because I'd just finished the wading-in-hip-deep-concrete that was House of Mirth, and I suspected this book was going to be another in that same genre. Women who need rich husbands and marry for money; women who are ultimately unhappy because they can't prioritize love; women in desperate circumstances. Which it is--but with a twist.

You see, it begins in the traditional way, with a country house and a rich baronet widower who has married a you...more This book was surprisingly good! I say surprisingly because I'd just finished the wading-in-hip-deep-concrete that was House of Mirth, and I suspected this book was going to be another in that same genre. Women who need rich husbands and marry for money; women who are ultimately unhappy because they can't prioritize love; women in desperate circumstances. Which it is--but with a twist.

You see, it begins in the traditional way, with a country house and a rich baronet widower who has married a young, beautiful woman who was once a governess--a woman barely older than his daughter. So I girded my loins for a 'secret' that was nothing much, like she was illegitimate or something, and we were going to spend four hundred pages angsting about it. Imagine my surprise when the very next chapter not only introduces a new point of view, but changes setting and time entirely! Not something I was looking for in a book published in 1860! Still, the titular secret didn't seem like it was going to be anything special, just your garden variety bigamy.

Imagine my amazement when the novel turned out to be a mystery novel! Lady Audley's first husband disappears, and while we the reader know she killed him to protect her second and much more lucrative marriage, his BFF Robert (Lady Audley's nephew) has no idea. We follow Robert as he puts the clues together one by one. And, in a wonderful bit of pacing, he suspects Lady Audley almost immediately. As soon as the possibility that George has just left the country with no notice whatsoever has been addressed, Lady Audley is the first and last suspect. Robert is no dullard. What stops him from making accusations then and there is his love and respect for his uncle, and his crush on Lady Audley (almost the same age as he is). He's worried about wrecking their happiness, and bringing a scandal, and hurting her if she's actually innocent. He's got real depth of character! Doubts, fears, uncertainties...it's really the most layered I've seen in a Victorian novel so far.

One thing that really illustrates this is that Robert can't decide if he wants to pursue his investigation. Lady Audley's and George's son has information pertinent to the crime, but Robert all but stops his ears so as not to hear anything incriminating. At another point, he determines that he'll give up if George's father doesn't want him to continue; and George's father doesn't. But Robert is persuaded to go on by George's sister, who Robert promptly falls in love with.

There are plenty of subplots and red herrings, too. One that I was certain would come to something is that Lady Audley looks almost exactly like her maid Phoebe. She even tells Phoebe that if Phoebe dyed her hair a shade darker and wore makeup, then anyone might mistake them. So I was prepared for that to happen through half the novel--and it never did. Another one is when Clara, George's sister, shows up in Essex, practically on the doorstep of the murder, and you might almost think she'd get involved in the investigation and push it further, but then she disappears just as suddenly. These might be considered flaws, but for me, they kept me guessing about the direction of the narrative, so they worked for me.

The first two volumes of the book move quickly and kept up my interest, but things slowed down in volume III. Lady Audley's angst over possibly being mad, and Robert's increasing vacillations, slowed things down too much. Nevertheless, there were secrets revealed by several different parties, and clues from the first half kept popping up again to make sense in a way they didn't initially. Lady Audley ends up in an insane asylum, Robert marries Clara, and it turns out that George wasn't murdered after all--pushed into the old well, yes, but he survived and moved to Australia without notice. (Something totally in-character and that he was prone to doing.) The conclusion wasn't as satisfying simply because it was so drawn out, but I was reasonably invested in seeing how everyone arrived at their ends.

Most of all I was impressed to see the hallmarks of the mystery in this book. Different people knowing different things, half-burned evidence that provides a clue, the detective travelling around and gathering witnesses and circumstantial evidence. And to top it off, those really believable character moments that kept the book suspenseful even though I knew whodunnit and how the murderous deed went down.

Braddon seems a bit down on women throughout. They're fickle, they're apt to mad, they'll murder for money, they're nags, they're childish and irrational, etc etc etc. (The Irish are pretty maligned and stereotyped, too.) Nevertheless, there were several quite distinct female characters: Lady Audley, Phoebe, and Clara are all quite distinct and clearly drawn. And it's not a marriage plot! Even though marriages happen. But then, Robert is the protagonist, so that could explain that.

I thought this book was great fun and the only thing that keeps it from five stars is that slow third volume. The first two-thirds get the A+.(less)

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Aug 19, 2012 Stephanie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think this would be a good book either for a teenager looking for "difficult" books or for someone who generally doesn't like literature.

About fifty pages in, I realized this book had absolutely nothing to say about people, or morality, or society. However, reading to the end wasn't a chore, and the last fifty pages or so actually moved at a rapid pace. Good writing on the part of Braddon? Maybe I had just clued in to the fact that half of every page was description that neither served the plo...more I think this would be a good book either for a teenager looking for "difficult" books or for someone who generally doesn't like literature.

About fifty pages in, I realized this book had absolutely nothing to say about people, or morality, or society. However, reading to the end wasn't a chore, and the last fifty pages or so actually moved at a rapid pace. Good writing on the part of Braddon? Maybe I had just clued in to the fact that half of every page was description that neither served the plot nor gave symbolic depth ( as in "And now we will discuss furniture as a Metaphor For Life," or "The place was really run down, so I will describe it in hyperbole because hyperbole is clever").

Two major problems: The plot of the book often goes absolutely nowhere. Two thirds is Robert Audley wandering around, asking various stock characters about clues for Lucy Audley's past life. Which we already know everything about because of a chapter from her first husband's perspective early on. Pointless. What really makes a difference is how Lucy reacts to the slow disintegration of her plans and the raising of the stakes. But we don't get much of that, at least in the first two thirds of the book.

Other major problem: I didn't care about any of the major characters, at least for the reasons you're supposed to care about them. Liked Alycia, really sympathized with her for getting an Evil Stepmother, being estranged from her father, and never being good enough for the man she loves. However, she doesn't do much and pretty much drops out of the picture in the last fifty pages.

Robert Audley was a little interesting--as if Bertie Wooster had decided to become a serious detective. Someone who never does anything trying to do something and being completely out of his depth. However, he has no real character traits that make me root for him. As others on this site have pointed out, his friend George is shiftless and inconstant, and his love interest Clara appears for few scenes and is cardboard thin. His uncle's bland too. Robert seems to have some moment of conviction about the need to stop a woman's sin, but it just doesn't take, and feels shoehorned in by the author to make the tale more sensational.

Lucy Audley was a character I've seen a million times before--the supposedly ideal woman and wife (older husband) who Uses Her Femininity to get what she wants. I only really became interested when she started to lose it--just seeing how she reacts to all the pressure put on her.

I think the story would have worked better if it had been told entirely from Lucy's perspective and just focused on the one character instead of following Robert on his mind-bogglingly obvious interviews. There's a real Macbeth story going on here, where someone does something bad because, what the heck, they really really want to, and thinks "Just this once doesn't make me evil. I won't do anything bad again." But then someone finds out and the person goes "Oh, crap! Why do I have to keep doing more bad things to cover up the first one?"

But that's not the story Braddon wanted to tell or her audience wanted to hear. Set up an unnecessarily complicated cast of stock characters, develop none of them because the audience already knows how to pigeon hole them, throw in some long paragraphs of description that add nothing, don't forget your symbolism and literary allusions (they're like easter eggs full of chocolate that the readers just love to pick up, plus they make the author look smarter), and round out the story with some moralistic revelries (oops, reveries) that support societal norms--and you've got a Victorian novel people will be reading for years to come.

See Dickens' Tale of Two Cities.(less)

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Aug 14, 2012 Michele rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wouldn't call this book an early mystery or detective story, since we know the victim, the guilty party and the motive quite early on, as does the book's hero, Robert Audley.

We don't follow along as Audley unravels the crime, so much as we watch him gather clues. Though obvious and redundant it's not a boring read and, while Braddon is no Dickens, she does employ mild humor that makes the story go down easily.

We meet Robert Audley as an idle bachelor. When one of his friends, George Talboys, g...more

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Feb 13, 2012 trishtrash rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, crime-fiction-and-mystery, favorites

Robert Audley, not the most highly motivated individual, finds himself investigating the disappearance of his friend, George Talboys, who is somehow linked to Robert’s aunt, the charming and beautiful – not to mention recent - Lady Audley. Almost universally adored, particularly by her doting husband, Lady Audley has a past that she is desperate to keep from her interfering step-nephew.

Robert is an unusual romantic hero, in that he is not the least inclined to be romantic, or to move himself to...more Robert Audley, not the most highly motivated individual, finds himself investigating the disappearance of his friend, George Talboys, who is somehow linked to Robert’s aunt, the charming and beautiful – not to mention recent - Lady Audley. Almost universally adored, particularly by her doting husband, Lady Audley has a past that she is desperate to keep from her interfering step-nephew.

Robert is an unusual romantic hero, in that he is not the least inclined to be romantic, or to move himself to great emotion or action; until, that is, he finds the puzzle of his friend’s disappearance taking on a sinister aspect. I enjoyed him, and Braddon’s other characters, enormously; her writing ranges from slightly preachy, to tongue-in-cheek, to deliciously wry - which vacillating makes it hard to rate this as ‘perfect’, but I was duly entertained and intrigued. The majority of the plot is too projected to be regarded a ‘mystery’, although we await enough important details to keep us hanging on; the real point was, I think, the scandal and, although I didn’t expect to be much moved by it, I discovered that I was actually upset on Lord Audley’s behalf, and therefore more involved in it than I expected.

**spoiler warning on*** If there’s a flaw for me, it’s more era-induced than anything else; for all the importance attached to this novel regarding its highlighting of female roles at the time, there’s all this ‘poor Georging’ in the wake of his disappearance, ignoring the conduct that drove his wife to act on her shallow, greedy instincts - he abandoned her and their son on the spur of the moment, to seek his fortune overseas, without discussing it with her first, or staying in contact afterwards, and all the emphasis is on how noble he was for coming home to her. Given Braddon’s (hopefully) ironic narrative on the subject of femininity, I would have expected a shot or two over the bow of the good ship misogynist on this point, too… or perhaps it was just too subtle for me. **spoiler warning off***

This is certainly one of the more entertaining classic-fiction mysteries I’ve read recently, though. The moral distress incited by the scandal may be subdued by societal evolution, but there’s definitely remnant enough to propel the reader along with Robert Audley. I’ll probably look out for more of her novels and stories, although reviews seem to indicate that this is Braddon’s defining work.(less)

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Jan 05, 2012 Lin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The best way I know how to sum up my feelings for this book is that it's a very pleasant read. It's the sort of thing you read in the bath, or on a long, ambling car ride with your mind half-occupied by something else. There are a lot of pretty digressions and descriptions, MOST of which don't drag, about the lime walk at Figtree Court or the paleness of Pheobe Marks' complexion. These things appealed to the very detail-oriented soul in me, as I've always loved books that take time to describe t...more

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Nov 27, 2011 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I haven't met a Victorian sensation novel that I haven't enjoyed yet and this one was no different in that sense. It's a mystery novel, and though you sort of know what Lady Audley's secret it very early on, there are enough twists and turns to keep you flipping the pages as fast as you can. Unlike other novels of this time period (thinking Of East Lynne and Wilkie Collins's books) I found it difficult to become emotionally involved with any of the characters - Braddon tried to infuse them with...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Betty rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, kindle

From Amazon:
The 1860s in England saw the boom of "sensation novels" which is best represented by the gripping thrillers "The Woman in White" and "The Moonstone," written by Wilkie Collins. Immediately after the success of the former one, Mary Elizabeth Braddon wrote "Lady Audley's Secret," which also became an instant bestseller, quickly making her a celebrity. But, in more than one sense, as you see later.

The story of Braddon's book is clearly inspired by Collins's "The Woman in White" (especia...more From Amazon:
The 1860s in England saw the boom of "sensation novels" which is best represented by the gripping thrillers "The Woman in White" and "The Moonstone," written by Wilkie Collins. Immediately after the success of the former one, Mary Elizabeth Braddon wrote "Lady Audley's Secret," which also became an instant bestseller, quickly making her a celebrity. But, in more than one sense, as you see later.

The story of Braddon's book is clearly inspired by Collins's "The Woman in White" (especially by Laura's story), but it is quite unfair to call "Lady Audley" a poor imitation. (And remember, Collins's story is also said to be based on a French book recording actual crime cases). Lady Audley takes a more defying view on the Victorians, roles of women in particular, and that's the real reason she was such a "sensation," and is again getting our attention now.

The story goes like this: Lucy, a governess without family, is loved by Sir Michael Audley, a rich landowner of Audley Court, Essex, and marries him to the chagrin of some people who look at her as an adventuress. No matter how people think, however, they are living happily.

In the meanwhile, George Talboys, after his long, hard days in Australia searching for goldmine, finally comes back to London, after many years, with money to make his wife happy. But when he encountered his old friend Robert Audley, nephew of Sir Michael, he accidentally knows that his beloved wife is no longer alive.

Those two seemingly unrelated events begin to get entangled after George's sudden missing. Robert starts his own investigation, as if beckoned by a fate, and he, collecting evidences, gradually comes to one inevitable conclusion.

And ... let me say this first; "Lady Audley" is an absorbing book, but absorbing not in the way a good detective story is. The "secret" in point is, one often mistakes, NOT the secret you can easily discover in the early stage of the plot. (You must wait to see the nature of Lady's secret at the end of the book, which is still controversial.) The story is melodramatic and sometimes predictable, but the real virtue of the book is the portrait of the strong-willed heroine, who dares to challenge the social codes of women in Victorian era.

The book is full of action that you might find in any potboilers, shocking for the comtemporary people, which includes: murder, arson, secret passage, blackmail, you name it. But the way Braddon handles them is always steady and well-controlled, and at some places they look unexpectedly modern, reading like a movie script, anticipating the cinematic treatment in the early 20th century (this had been made into films three times in silent-film days, and once on TV even in 2000) Her book has many flaws, surely, but should be never called dull.

Mary Elizabeth Braddon, when she was working on this book, was living with John Maxwell, ambitious publisher in debt, and she was the main provider of income. While living together (and John was still married to another woman in asylum, which makes an interesting parallel with George Eliot), she wrote with a frantic speed. Through 1861-62, when she wrote "Lady Audley's Secret," -- and she was also writing for cheaper periodicals under false name! -- Braddon confesses that she wrote the Third Book (the final third part) of the "Lady Audley" in a fortnight. Considering the fact, the book is incredibly tight, and infallibly engaging. (less)

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Jul 13, 2011 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm not sure where I got the impression that this would somehow be unreadable, but I was totally mistaken-- this is a brisk little thriller, one where there's equal windows into the working out of the plot of the novel and the ways complicated issues are contested in Victorian culture-- in other words, it's got a good bit of readerly enjoyment to offer as well as grounds for some heavy duty academic analysis-- the last section, about mental illness, for example, is ripe for some sort of Foucauld...more I'm not sure where I got the impression that this would somehow be unreadable, but I was totally mistaken-- this is a brisk little thriller, one where there's equal windows into the working out of the plot of the novel and the ways complicated issues are contested in Victorian culture-- in other words, it's got a good bit of readerly enjoyment to offer as well as grounds for some heavy duty academic analysis-- the last section, about mental illness, for example, is ripe for some sort of Foucauldian approach, and the novel as a whole offers many opportunities for perhaps misguided Freudian readings.

It's a really rich book in lots of ways, and though there are moments of creaky plot mechanics, where one too many obstacles may appear to slow down a coming revelation, it's not nearly as bad as you might fear, and is probably less flawed in this way than some books by Hardy. Instead, if this book has a flaw, it might be its grasping for big issues-- there are digressions here, in the voice of the author, that tackle subjects that wouldn't be unexpected in Dostoyevsky, but here, they lack D's frantic mania that makes those digressions so compelling. It feels, then, that Braddon is trying too hard; it's hard to characterize exactly, whether these incursions after inflated value are Braddon puffing her own skirts, or something she puts in to make her readers feel better about what they are reading. But she lacks that restraint that somehow or other we've decided is the hallmark of fine Literature. It's not hard to see that as a gendered objection, and it's not one I'd stand behind in absolute terms-- but I do think it goes some way toward explaining why this novel is seen as a second tier novel instead of one on a par with a Cranford, for example.

The character of Rob Audley is a fun one, especially in his early flaneur stage-- part of me wished he'd been able to remain to emotionally aloof throughout, but that wouldn't much suit the passions of the novel. Too bad, because that's when I liked him best.(less)

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Jun 24, 2011 Nenia Campbell rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: x-1860s

So this is a "sensation" novel. Hmm. The back cover on my copy describes the main heroine has having "great depth" and "complexity of character," but I honestly don't see that. Most of the characters in this book were quite cardboard. Everyone was in awe of the beautiful but sinister Lady Audley, and she only had to crook her little finger to make everyone fall to their knees like obedient slaves, despite the fact that her lies were so transparently obvious that even a five year old with half a...more

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Oct 27, 2010 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not a bad read--it has mystery, (murder?), and madness--but to my eyes Lady Audley's secret or secrets, I should say--for there are several layers to this funny child-like lady--aren't all that bad. I see her as a woman weighed down by circumstance and a series of worthless and/or self-righteous men (father, husband, husband, nephew). Not that I applaud her behavior; I think she could have handled the situation much more thoughtfully. But since Victorian culture tends to turn women into caged an...more

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Jun 19, 2010 Devon Hernandez rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I find myself pleasantly surprised at how good this book was! I wouldn't call it a "classic" per se, on the same level as Dickens or some such novel, but Lady Audley's Secret, written in 1862, is considered a classic in the British "sensational novel" (suspense, we'd call it now) tier, as it was one of the first, and well-know in that category. I read a lot of historical fiction and this book has been made mention of many times in some of the books I've read, most notably in Tasha Alexander's La...more

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Jun 08, 2010 Holly marked it as to-read · review of another edition

From Musings: When Sir Michael Audley married former governess Lucy Graham, it caused quite a stir in his family. His new wife was closer in age to his adult daughter Alicia, and his nephew Robert was captivated by Lady Audley’s beauty. Robert is a London barrister (although he doesn’t appear to actually do any work), and one day he runs into an old friend, George Talboys, recently returned from three years in Australia. George is shocked to learn that his wife passed away just a few days before...more

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Dec 15, 2009 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Who wants to read an essay on this run-of-the mill Victorian sensation novel?!?!?!

A Mournful Presentiment:
A Synthesis of Childishness, Death, and Fate in Lady Audley’s Secret

In Lady Audley’s Secret, Mary Elizabeth Braddon uses childishness to achieve a heightened awareness of death. I will define “childishness” to include the inherent relationship between parent and child, and characters exhibiting childlike behavior. The juxtaposition of death and violence with childishness jars the reader fr...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Michigosling rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Beach readers, lovers or Victorian pulp fiction

Recommended to Michigosling by: M. H. Lovelace gave it a negative recommendation

The main character in one of my all-time favorite books, Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown, gets in trouble for reading this book, so I've always felt mildly curious to find out what the fuss was about. Since I can't go to the Betsy-Tacy convention that I was hoping to attend this coming week, and there are no MHL books left on my "to read" list, I decided this is as good a time as any to read it.

Having now finished it, I can't agree with Mrs. Ray or Mr. Kelly that it's trash not worth reading. Granted...more

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Feb 20, 2011 BohoMon rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

A sensation novel of Victorian England that rivalled Wilkie Collins' own efforts. What's a sensation novel?

For this reason alone, it is an important work. It was one instrument in the creation of a genre, as well as being amongst the earliest crime novels. This novel includes murder attempts, child abandonment, bigamy, and deceit.

The plot is complex and well-structured, overall a generally good story, and the characters are well-rounded enough. However..... the writing is dull. No, not the dull...more

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Sep 27, 2009 F.R. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Sensation novel is where the detective story – created by Poe –developed and grew. Twenty-five years later Conan Doyle would formalise it and then, of course, it evolved into the most popular fiction of the twentieth century. Looking at this book from the 1860s then, we can see the faltering steps of a whole genre.

In his wonderful essay ‘The Simple Art of Murder’ Raymond Chandler argues that you can’t overly criticise Doyle for some of the choices he makes in the Holmes stories, as he’s oper...more

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Oct 26, 2012 Ali rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Years ago I read dozens of "classics" but I am so glad that this wasn't one of them, and that I saved myself the pleasure of it. This could well turn out to be one of my favourite reads of 2012. Audley, a village in Essex is home to Sir Michael Audley, who in his mid fifties marries the beautiful penniless governess of the local surgeon. The new Lady Audley takes up residence at Audley Court, with her new husband and his daughter Alicia. Alicia having had her father to herself for years is non t...more Years ago I read dozens of "classics" but I am so glad that this wasn't one of them, and that I saved myself the pleasure of it. This could well turn out to be one of my favourite reads of 2012. Audley, a village in Essex is home to Sir Michael Audley, who in his mid fifties marries the beautiful penniless governess of the local surgeon. The new Lady Audley takes up residence at Audley Court, with her new husband and his daughter Alicia. Alicia having had her father to herself for years is non too keen on her new stepmother. Sir Michael is besotted with Lucy, and Lady Audley loves her jewellery, her furs, her pretty apartments and her new life. Meanwhile George Talboys is arriving home after spending three years in the Australian gold fields. Three years earlier he had left his pretty young wife and baby son to seek his fortune. Now he wants to reunite himself with his wife and start their lives 'over. Soon after his ship docks, George runs across his old friend from school days Robert Audley. Robert is the nephew of Sir Michael, and is a young barrister, who living a pleasant and idle life has never yet had cause to practise his profession. While with Robert, George picks up a copy of the times, and sees an announcement which shatters him. His wife is dead and only recently buried. Robert accompanies his friend to see his father-in-law and young son and discover what happened to his young wife. A drunken old man and a young boy in the charge of a local woman with a confused and sorry tale greets the two men, and George leaves broken hearted thinking he'll do no worse than return to Australia. Loathe to leave him alone, a few weeks later Robert takes George Talboys to Essex to meet his uncle and cousin, and the young woman his uncle has married, and who Robert has not yet met. During the visit the new Lady Audley appears to go to extreme lengths not to meet Robert Audley's friend and is behaving rather oddly. However when George unaccountably disappears one sunny September afternoon Robert is determined to discover the truth. This novel made the fortune of the author, and it is easy to see why. The Victorians were fascinated if not obsessed by matters of madness and morality and this sensation novel would have played right into their subconscious nightmares. It is still a real page turner even after all these years, a pacey and gripping read from the first to the last page.(less)

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Jan 22, 2011 Jack Charter rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had to read this book quickly for an English class: in about four days. I don't feel this detracted from the overall experience. This book was made to be read fast, by hurried commuters rushing about on trains. It is one of the original page-turners, and a gripping read.

Rushing backwards and forwards on trains is something which the main character, Robert Audley, does a lot of. Due to my quick read, I noticed a lot of repetition such as the train journeys, and the re-occuring description of th...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Tanja Seppä rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, classics, kindle

Rating 3- out of 5*. I wavered between 1 and 2 before landing at this, trying to measure just how annoyed I was for having been right all along. There was only one little twist and certainly a much smaller one than I had expected.

Lady Audley used to be Lucy Graham, a lowly governess, before she married far beyond her station. She is a very beautiful, childish young woman with a mean streak a mile wide. She has a secret and what this is glaringly obvious almost from the beginning for the jaded no...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Violet rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, reviewed

It’s not often that I have to re-issue a book three times, after which I have to wait awhile to issue it again as I have exceeded the re-issue limit! This is made even more remarkable in that the book itself is reasonably short – not much more than 300 or so pages. All I can say is that no matter how busy you find yourself, and how little time you have to read, you will find yourself returning again and again to this novel.

This book is described as a “Victorian sensationalist novel” and I can ce...more It’s not often that I have to re-issue a book three times, after which I have to wait awhile to issue it again as I have exceeded the re-issue limit! This is made even more remarkable in that the book itself is reasonably short – not much more than 300 or so pages. All I can say is that no matter how busy you find yourself, and how little time you have to read, you will find yourself returning again and again to this novel.

This book is described as a “Victorian sensationalist novel” and I can certainly see why it earned that description as the novel is filled with suspense and drama, with each chapter ending on a cliffhanger, which makes you want to keep on reading.

What I liked about this novel:
First and foremost, I LOVED the characters! I immediately grew to like Robert Audley as unlike many of the other characters, he felt very real as Mary Elizabeth Braddon emphasised throughout the novel his faults as well as his virtues. This made him very believable to me, and as the story more or less followed his investigation, it became quite clear that while I was learning about Lady Audley, in the process I was also learning a lot about his character, and that some of the initial perceptions I had about him were wrong. By the end of the novel, he truly was an admirable character in my eyes.

It was not only the principle characters that I liked, but also some of the more minor ones. I loved Alicia Audley, as she provided many comical bits in the book by constantly being affronted with Robert for his apparent snubbing of her attentions. She made me smile so much by the way she was shown to be trying to act like an adult whilst really being still a child at heart. Lady Audley’s maid, Phoebe Marks, was also a very interesting character.

What I disliked about this novel:
I do have a few complaints about the novel, however. One is that there were a few times when the Lord’s name was used in vain – which I thought was completely unnecessary. However, there was no other swearing or anything else of that kind, so I believe that this is not so obtrusive that you should avoid reading it altogether. Another complaint I have is that I personally found the plot a bit easy to guess (okay, so Mary Elizabeth Braddon did add a bit of an unexpected twist at the end, but I had the general idea!) so while at first this novel might remind you of an Agatha Christie mystery, do not expect the same level of sophistication in the plot. This did mean that at times I felt like saying to Mary Elizabeth Braddon, “Okay, so I get the picture – now can we move on and have it revealed to the characters?” Having said that, it was this technique of not allowing the characters to understand things as quickly as you did that did help to keep you reading, as you were constantly cheering Robert on. Or, at least, I was! :) I also didn’t like it that at times the idea of revenge seemed to be almost condoned.

Overall, however, I highly recommend this book – though of course it is up to you to decide if you like it as much as me! If you can think of a novel that has the melodrama of an Agatha Christie novel, a Dickensian protagonist (aka Robert!) and some of the themes of Jane Eyre, you pretty much have Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret. A must read for anyone like me who adores Victorian literature!

(See original review on my link text)(less)

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Jan 05, 2012 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, women-s-studies, librivox-audiobooks-they-re-free

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I loved this book. I had never even heard of it before, which I now think is a total shame! First of all Elizabeth Klett is such an amazing reader, wow. Second, three chapters into this book and I was hooked. I dont usually download audiobooks to my ipod, I have a really short drive to work, so I usually just listen to music and turn librivox on once I'm in my office. I was so hook to this audiobook I actually did download it so I didnt have top take a break from listening.

I loved the characters...more

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About Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Mary Elizabeth Braddon was a British Victorian era popular novelist. She was an extremely prolific writer, producing some 75 novels with very inventive plots. The most famous one is her first novel, Lady Audley's Secret (1862), which won her recognition and fortune as well. The novel has been in print ever since, and has been dramatised and filmed several times.
Braddon also founded Belgravia Magaz...more

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“Surely a pretty woman never looks prettier than when making tea.” — 52 people liked it

“Phoebe Marks was a person who never lost her individuality. Silent and self-contained, she seemed to hold herself within herself, and take no colour from the outer world.” — 12 people liked it

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