Lady Audley's Secret

By Mary Elizabeth Braddon, M.E. Braddon Maxwell, Mary Elizabeth Maxwell

Book Overview

Part of the Smith & Taylor Classics series, this elegant edition revives one of Victorian literature's most thrilling and subversive novels.

Lucy Graham, radiantly beautiful, born to poverty, and Sir Michael Audley, aging aristocratic widower and fabulously wealthy, are married soon after first glance.

Life is peaceful at old Audley Court until the arrival of Robert Audley- Sir Michael's nephew- and his friend George Talboys, who is home again after making his fortune in Australia.

When George mysteriously disappears, Robert takes it upon himself to find him again. Developing a detective's eye, following disturbing clue after clue, Robert becomes convinced his alluring Aunt Lucy isn't as innocent, or possibly as sane, as she seems.

Lady Audley's Secret first appeared in Robin Goodfellow magazine in 1861, establishing it as a "sensational" novel to rival Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White (1860). A cunningly plotted mystery novel as sensual as a Pre-Raphaelite portrait, Lady Audley's Secret probes mid-Victorian anxieties about the rapid rise of consumerism with the invention of one of literature's great villainesses who goes to great lengths to secure her greatest desires.

Featuring a conversational afterword from writers Sarah Weinman and Rachel Vorona Cote.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1961884380
• ISBN13: 9781961884380
• Release Date: May 2025
• Publisher: Smith & Taylor Classics
• Length: 500 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.0" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Loved it!

This was a wonderful surprise. Loved it from start to finish. Very well written. Quite old so I was looking up words in the dictionary as I went but so hard as I couldn’t understand. I didn’t want to put it down and even though I could tell what lady audleys secret was I still surprised me at the end. Didn’t see it coming. Great book!

One of my favorites

The story begins as Miss Lucy Graham, a beautiful and mysterious governess, meets the wealthy widower, Sir Michael Audley. Sir Audley falls desperately in love with Lucy and begs her to marry him. Lucy agrees to the marriage, but doesn't tell Michael she is already married to a man she hasn't seen in three years and believes him to be dead. Lucy's husband, George Talboys, unexpectedly, returns home to find his wife's father has declared her dead and buried. This is where the mystery begins! Does George find his wife who has married another man? What will happen if and when he does? I've read several Victorian novels in the past, but this is definitely one of my favorites. It has everything a good read should have--romance, murder, suspense, a surprise ending. It is fast moving and holds the reader's interest. The author has become one of my favorites and I'll certainly look for more of her books in the future. Expect more reviews to come.

A Forgotten Gem

This book is a wonderful forgotten gem. Although it was written nearly half a century before, this book belongs on the shelf next to stories such as Du Maurier's "Rebecca." It is a mystery that takes place at a manor much like Manderly, but the characters are different and the reader wonders who is really the hero (or herione). Mary Elizabeth Bradden wrote her best for this book. In fact, the author always thought of this book as her favorite. I know it is one of mine.

More of a guilt novel than I mystery I think...

...I was suprised at how much I liked this book. I am not one for Victorian "sensationalists" preferring swashbuckling but Miss Braddon (as she was then called) is a great writer who gives explainations for her character's wild behavior. Considered quite a trashy novelist in her day, her stories are much tamer than what is on network television.Read, enjoy this escapist novel

A classic and delightful read for any century!

One of the most widely read murder mysteries of the 19th century is still a worthwhile adventure today. Mary E. Braddon delivers a thoughtful masterpiece of suspense. After craftily engaging her reader, Braddon gives one the illusion of knowledge. We begin to believe that we know and understand the "secret" and are simply waiting for the mystery to unfold. Yet beware! We are not as knowing as we think, the text is not as simple as it appears. Full of exciting twists and unnerving psychological profiles, _Lady Audley's Secret_ is a must-read thriller! As a birdseye view of Victorian England, it is superb. As a literary lesson in character development, it is unmatched. As an intriguing, can't-put-it-down plot, it is excellent. In a word, it is timeless