About “Lady Audley's Secret”
Lady Audley's Secret is a sensation novel by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, published on 1 October 1862. It was Braddon's most successful and well-known novel, described by critic John Sutherland as "the most sensationally successful of all the sensation novels." The plot revolves around "accidental bigamy," a theme popular in the early 1860s. Literary critic Elaine Showalter summarized the story as involving a bigamous heroine who deserts her child, pushes her first husband down a well, considers poisoning her second husband, and sets fire to a hotel where other male characters are staying. The novel reflects themes from the real-life Constance Kent case of 1860. Braddon wrote a second bigamy novel, Aurora Floyd, in 1863. She set Lady Audley's Secret in Ingatestone Hall, Essex, inspired by a visit there. The novel has been adapted into three silent films, a 2000 UK television version, and three minor stage adaptations. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.)
Book details
- Published
- 1862