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Lady Audley's Secret was one of the first and most successful sensation novels of the late 19th century. A young gentleman of leisure, Robert Audley, is spurred into action when his friend Geroge Talboys goes missing from Audley Court. As an amateur detective, Robert travels the length and breadth of the country, only to discover that the answer to the mystery lies in the true identity of his uncle's wife, Lady Audley. True to its genre, the novel brings danger home to the private sphere of the country house and questions the unassailable boundaries of class. It is also a strident feminine criticism of the times, though debate still rages as to whether Braddon tidies her questions away too neatly at the end of the novel.
This was a pretty fun book with plenty of Victorian soliloquies and dramatizations. Haha! Very typical 19th century sensation novel---oh, if only Jane Austen could have read it! We might have been treated to something inspired to rival Northanger Abbey in her old age. While I thought the "villain" ultimately deserved a lot worse than was doled out, I was satisfied overall with the ending. ( )
Well. This is quite a long story for something that's pretty obvious upfront. I'm willing to accept that it could have been novel and exciting at the time, and I've just read too many mysteries. Still we spend a lot of time in the minds of men whose entire POV could be summed up as "Ladies! Am I right?" ( )
I read this on the heels of The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher (LOVED that) as it mentioned a few times. There was a famous murder investigation of that period that surely Mrs. Braddon called upon while writing this novel. Well-written and plotted, the only reason I give it four stars not five, is the lack of mystery... it's shocking enough if we all imagine Victorian women behaving well. There are some interesting commentaries on YouTube that one should see as well regarding Lady Audley's behavior/symptoms falling within the boundaries of what was then called "purple madness" and is similar to post-partem depression. But Lady Audley's secret is fairly obvious in the early part of the book. The question is not did she do these things but was she mad or a psychopath? How far can we go to meet her with empathy? Do we rally with a cry of feminism that not all women want to be married and have children or do we see her as a manipulative, heartless opportunist? Watching it play out is like watching a train wreck, horrible but fascinating. And yet, other books pull me away. At present, I've set it aside unfinished for now. ( )
Dedicated to the Right Hon. Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Bart., M.P., D.C.L, &c., &c., in grateful acknowledgement of literary advice most generously given to the Author.
First words
Audley Court lay low down in a hollow, rich with fine old timber and luxuriant pastures; and you came upon it through an avenue of limes, bordered on either side by meadows, over the high hedges of which the cattle looked inquisitively at you as you passed, wondering, perhaps, what you wanted; for there was no thoroughfare, and unless you were going to the Court you had no business there at all.
Quotations
Robert had a prim bedroom . . . and he woke every morning upon a metallic spring mattress, which always gave him the idea of sleeping upon some musical instrument . . .
Last words
If my experience of life has not been very long, it has at least been manifold; and I can safely subscribe to that which a mighty king and a great philosopher declared, when he said that neither the experience of his youth nor of his age had ever shown him "the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread."
The meerschaums and the French novels have been presented to a young Templar, with whom Robert Audley had been friendly in his bachelor days, and Mrs. Maloney has a little pension paid her quarterly for her care of the canaries.
Lady Audley's Secret was one of the first and most successful sensation novels of the late 19th century. A young gentleman of leisure, Robert Audley, is spurred into action when his friend Geroge Talboys goes missing from Audley Court. As an amateur detective, Robert travels the length and breadth of the country, only to discover that the answer to the mystery lies in the true identity of his uncle's wife, Lady Audley. True to its genre, the novel brings danger home to the private sphere of the country house and questions the unassailable boundaries of class. It is also a strident feminine criticism of the times, though debate still rages as to whether Braddon tidies her questions away too neatly at the end of the novel.
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"Did she remember the day in which that fairy dower of beauty had first taught her to be selfish and cruel, indifference to the joys and sorrows of others...?" Sir Michael Audley is captivated by his young and beautiful second wife. She has made a most advantageous match: once a governess, she is now mistress of Audley Court, a splendid and rambling mansion and envy of the neighborhood. Those who meet Lady Audley are fascinated by her, most particularly her husband's nephew, Robert. But his fascination begins to disturb him. For as he investigates the mysterious disappearance of his friend, George Talboys, he discovers that Lady Audley's beguiling charm masks the cold heart of a ruthless woman. This accomplished intrigue, first published in 1862, is Mary Braddon's most celebrated work. Once of the greatest 'sensation' novels ever written. Lady Audley's Secret shock the Victorian public with its revelations of horror at the ver heart of respectable society and its most respectable women.
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