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	• Lady Audley's Secret (Oxford World's Classics) Mary Elizabeth Braddon Oxford University Press, USA, 1998 - 496 pages average customer review:based on 19 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Delightful

In Lady Audley's Secret, Sir Michael Audley marries Lucy Graham, a governess. She's a fragile-looking young woman of about 20 or so, whose outside appearance belies the deep, dark secret she'll do anything to protect. But when a young man named George Talboys goes missing, his friend Robert Audley steps in and resolves to figure out what happened to him. Robert, a dissolute barrister, has a strong suspicion that his step-aunt is connected to his friend's disappearance.

I'm not going to give away (much) here, because it would spoil virtually the whole book and a lot of the enjoyment that goes with this reading experience, but suffice it to say that this novel was one of the great works of Victorian sensationalist novels that were published in the 1860s. It was sensationalist because it took the ideals of Victorian family-hood and turned them upside-down: it was nearly inconceivable that a woman could be capable of the acts that Lady Audley perpetrates here. Even today, this novel is still fascinating, filled with ghosts and murder and arson and bigamy. Braddon displays a wide range of outside knowledge, from Classical literature to literature of the time (she even mentions Wilkie Collins, to whose The Woman in White this novel is probably indebted), to history (the English Civil War), current events (the US Civil War), and beyond.

The author tends to be melodramatic, which turned me off a bit, and her writing style just isn't that good (Braddon tended to write in fragmented sentences). But the story itself sucked me in, and after reading a few pages, I knew that I just had to read the rest. Its definitely true that Braddon is the master of writing plot, and everything ties together perfectly. While considered trashy in the 1860s, the novel contains a strong statement about women's roles in Victorian England.

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Review the novel, or the edition?

It's unfortunate that opinions regarding the story, Braddon's style, and/or Victorian novels in general make the little star rankings lower for this particular edition. In fact, the edition is quite good; the introduction is superb, the footnotes are very useful for those of us who easily forget our Classical references, and the appendices are chock full of relevant information. Like the story or not, this edition is wonderful.

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an unexpected treat

As an avid reader of 19th century lit, I am always on the lookout for new (and good) authors of this time period. This book was better than I would have expected. It was well written, and I was drawn into the story right away. While Braddon is not quite as good as Wilkie Collins, she spins a good yarn and keeps you interested. I plan on reading more of her books.

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Something surprising....

I first bought this book for my mother. She loved it so much she bought a copy for me and nagged me to read it.

I am not the greatest admirer of Victorian English literature. I prefer the late eighteenth century Gothic authors and the Romantics. Nonetheless, this was a great read. Her descriptions of the countryside, her prose...everything about this book. It was a great time. It is one of those books you look forward to reading while doing others things. When you get the chance, you'll read it no matter if you have ten minutes or a full day to yourself.

I recommend this to all the Wilkie Collins fans, to all the Gothic readers and sensation seekers. If you love English literature or just plain love a good mystery, pick this book up.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

This Victorian bestseller, along with Braddon's other famous novel, Aurora Floyd, established her as the main rival of the master of the sensational novel, Wilkie Collins. A protest against the passive, insipid 19th-century heroine, Lady Audley was described by one critic of the time as "high-strung, full of passion, purpose, and movement." Her crime (the secret of the title) is shown to threaten the apparently respectable middle-class world of Victorian England.

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