Taken at the Flood

by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

This is a reproduction of the original artefact. Generally these books are created from careful scans of the original. This allows us to preserve the book accurately and present it in the way the author intended. Since the original versions are generally quite old, there may occasionally be certain imperfections within these reproductions. We're happy to make these classics available again for future generations to enjoy!

330 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1874

About the author

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 Magazine (1866), which presented readers with serialized sensation novels, poems, travel narratives, and biographies, as well as essays on fashion, history, science. She also edited Temple Bar Magazine. Braddon's legacy is tied to the Sensation Fiction of the 1860s.

She is also the mother of novelist W.B. Maxwell.

Reviews

[Carley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Similar in parts to Lady Audley's Secret, but with a few extra twists, this book touches on all the typical Victorian sensation themes of bigamy, murder, and crossed identity.

[Dystopian Mayhem · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a romance, nonetheless, it was written beautifully. The heroine is the villain in this story, and around her most of the events took place. There are unexpected elements here, like the mystery and the unexpected twists and turns. Even if the general atmosphere is Christian, the message in this book was delivered without overwhelming preaching. The long detailed background of the main characters is understandable, but the lawyer’s background and family affairs felt unnecessary and was very uninteresting. Braddon’s style might be dark and gloomy, but by the end of the book you may be sure that justice will be served.

[Mbuye · Rating 3 out of 5]

“When you have a winning formula, stick to that formula.” That was Wodehouse's philosophy, and apparently, so was MEB’s. ‘Taken At the Flood,’ out of print and difficult even to find a digital version, is among her better contrived novels. There is, insofar as characterisation goes, not one person in the book who awakens in us a shred of sympathy, not one who appeals to our compassion, except the two brothers, one of whom is shut away in a private asylum.

The plot is, as all of MEB's plots, convoluted with every felony, vice and infirmity the author can dream up – insanity, paralytic strokes, infidelity, betrayal, greed, murder, bigamy, blackmail, drunkenness, weakness of character, dishonesty and more – and that favourite of all others, stopping a marriage due to “just cause or impediment.” And yet it fails to shock us, perhaps because the characters themselves do not arouse that pity and terror that some others of Braddon's conjure up in us. As a writer of the equivalent of pulp fiction today, Braddon shows herself aware of both chancery (civil) and criminal law in a way that technically, no fault can be found in her work. Except for one detail. Was there no law in England about accessories to crime and obstruction of justice?

Whatever the reason, ‘Taken At the Flood,’ makes for good reading or listening, despite the inherent weaknesses of the plot and poor character detail. While not her best novel, it adheres strictly to the winning formula, and if you like Victorian Gothic melodrama, you will love this book.