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Title details for Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon - Available

Lady Audley's Secret

by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Sheba Blake
ebook
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Lady Audley's Secret is a sensation novel by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. The plot was summarised by literary critic Elaine Showalter (1982): "Braddon's bigamous heroine deserts her child, pushes husband number one down a well, thinks about poisoning husband number two and sets fire to a hotel in which her other male acquaintances are residing". Elements of the novel mirror themes of the real-life Constance Kent case of June 1860 which gripped the nation for years. A follow-up novel, Aurora Floyd, appeared in 1863. Braddon set the story in Ingatestone Hall, Essex, inspired by a visit there. There have been three silent film adaptations, one UK television version in 2000, and three minor stage adaptations. Braddon initially sold the rights to the Irish publisher John Maxwell, with whom Braddon also lived and had children. Maxwell published it in his ailing magazine Robin Goodfellow, but Braddon did not labour much, writing the final third in less than two weeks. Not until it was published as a three-volume novel by William Tinsley did it become a success and allow Braddon to be financially independent for the remainder of her life. It also enriched her publisher William Tinsley, who went on to build a villa at Barnes, 'Audley Lodge', with the profits. Notably for the bigamous nature of the plot, Maxwell himself was married to another woman and thus Braddon was unable to marry him until his wife died in 1874. When it became public that Maxwell and Braddon had been living in an "irregular" arrangement all those years, it caused a minor scandal during which all their servants gave notice.
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Publisher: Sheba Blake Publishing

Kindle Book

  • Release date: April 19, 2017

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9783961893645
  • File size: 478 KB
  • Release date: April 19, 2017

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9783961893645
  • File size: 1702 KB
  • Release date: April 19, 2017

Formats

Kindle Book
OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

subjects

Fiction Mystery Suspense

Languages

English

Levels

Lexile® Measure:1170
Text Difficulty:8-9

Lady Audley's Secret is a sensation novel by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. The plot was summarised by literary critic Elaine Showalter (1982): "Braddon's bigamous heroine deserts her child, pushes husband number one down a well, thinks about poisoning husband number two and sets fire to a hotel in which her other male acquaintances are residing". Elements of the novel mirror themes of the real-life Constance Kent case of June 1860 which gripped the nation for years. A follow-up novel, Aurora Floyd, appeared in 1863. Braddon set the story in Ingatestone Hall, Essex, inspired by a visit there. There have been three silent film adaptations, one UK television version in 2000, and three minor stage adaptations. Braddon initially sold the rights to the Irish publisher John Maxwell, with whom Braddon also lived and had children. Maxwell published it in his ailing magazine Robin Goodfellow, but Braddon did not labour much, writing the final third in less than two weeks. Not until it was published as a three-volume novel by William Tinsley did it become a success and allow Braddon to be financially independent for the remainder of her life. It also enriched her publisher William Tinsley, who went on to build a villa at Barnes, 'Audley Lodge', with the profits. Notably for the bigamous nature of the plot, Maxwell himself was married to another woman and thus Braddon was unable to marry him until his wife died in 1874. When it became public that Maxwell and Braddon had been living in an "irregular" arrangement all those years, it caused a minor scandal during which all their servants gave notice.
Expand title description text
Fiction Mystery Suspense