Other editions of book Lady Audley's Secret

Lady Audley’s Secret was published in 1862 and was Mary Elizabeth Braddon's most successful novel. It has been called "the most sensationally successful of all the sensation novels". The success of book, along with Braddon's other bestseller, ‘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. The story centres on "accidental bigamy" which was in literary fashion in the early 1860s. 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. The follow-up novel, ‘Aurora Floyd,’ appeared in 1863. There have been three silent film adaptations, one UK television version in 2000, and three minor stage adaptations.

A hugely popular novel described as "the most sensationally successful of all the sensation novels", Braddon's complex and intriguing story revolves around the theme of accidental bigamy. The plot was recently summarized as: "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." The runaway success of her best seller allowed Braddon to be financially independent for the rest of her life. Just as accessible and enjoyable for today's modern readers as it would have been when first published over 100 years ago, the novel is one of the great works of English literature and continues to be widely read throughout the world.This meticulous digital edition from Heritage Illustrated Publishing is a faithful reproduction of the original text and is beautifully illustrated with a number of atmospheric historical paintings that reflect the mood of the novel.

Lady Audley’s Secret was published in 1862 and was Mary Elizabeth Braddon's most popular novel. It has been called "the most sensationally successful of all the sensation novels". The success of book, along with Braddon's other bestseller, Aurora Floyd, established her as the main rival of the master of the sensational novel, Wilkie Collins (The Moonstone, The Woman in White). 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. The story centers on "accidental bigamy" which was in literary fashion in the early 1860s. The plot was summarized 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. The follow-up novel (Aurora Floyd) appeared in 1863. There have been three silent film adaptations, one UK television version in 2000, and three minor stage adaptations.This new edition from Enhanced Media includes an image gallery.

Lady Audley’s Secret has been called "the most sensationally successful of all the sensational novels". The success of the book, along with Mary Elizabeth Braddon's other bestseller, Aurora Floyd, established the author 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. The story centres on "accidental bigamy" which was in literary fashion in the early 1860s. 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. The follow-up novel (Aurora Floyd) appeared in 1863. There have been three silent film adaptations, one UK television version in 2000, and three minor stage adaptations.

A hugely popular novel described as "the most sensationally successful of all the sensation novels", Braddon's complex and intriguing story revolves around the theme of accidental bigamy. The plot was recently summarized as: "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." The runaway success of her best seller allowed Braddon to be financially independent for the rest of her life. Just as accessible and enjoyable for today's modern readers as it would have been when first published over 100 years ago, the novel is one of the great works of English literature and continues to be widely read throughout the world.This meticulous edition from Heritage Illustrated Publishing is a faithful reproduction of the original text.

It lay 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 thorough-fare, and unless you were going to the Court you had no business there at all. At the end of this avenue there was an old arch and a clock tower, with a stupid, bewildering clock, which had only one hand—and which jumped straight from one hour to the next—and was therefore always in extremes. Through this arch you walked straight into the gardens of Audley Court. A smooth lawn lay before you, dotted with groups of rhododendrons, which grew in more perfection here than anywhere else in the county. To the right there were the kitchen gardens, the fish-pond, and an orchard bordered by a dry moat, and a broken ruin of a wall, in some places thicker than it was high, and everywhere overgrown with trailing ivy, yellow stonecrop, and dark moss. To the left there was a broad graveled walk, down which, years ago, when the place had been a convent, the quiet nuns had walked hand in hand; a wall bordered with espaliers, and shadowed on one side by goodly oaks, which shut out the flat landscape, and circled in the house and gardens with a darkening shelter. The house faced the arch, and occupied three sides of a quadrangle. It was very old, and very irregular and rambling. The windows were uneven; some small, some large, some with heavy stone mullions and rich stained glass; others with frail lattices that rattled in every breeze; others so modern that they might have been added only yesterday. Great piles of chimneys rose up here and there behind the pointed gables, and seemed as if they were so broken down by age and long service that they must have fallen but for the straggling ivy which, crawling up the walls and trailing even over the roof, wound itself about them and supported them. The principal door was squeezed into a corner of a turret at one angle of the building, as if it were in hiding from dangerous visitors, and wished to keep itself a secret—a noble door for all that—old oak, and studded with great square-headed iron nails, and so thick that the sharp iron knocker struck upon it with a muffled sound, and the visitor rung a clanging bell that dangled in a corner among the ivy, lest the noise of the knocking should never penetrate the stronghold.