Lady Audley’s Secret

By: Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Narrated by: Beverley Crick

When beautiful young Lucy Graham accepts the hand of Sir Michael Audley, her fortune and her future look secure. But Lady Audley's past is shrouded in mystery, and Sir Michael's nephew, Robert, has vague forebodings. When Robert's good friend, George Talboys, suddenly disappears, he is determined to find him and to unearth the truth. His quest reveals a tangled story of lies and deception, crime and intrigue, whose sensational twists turn the conventional picture of Victorian womanhood on its head. Can Robert's darkest suspicions really be true?

A publishing sensation in its day, Lady Audley's Secret is a thrilling novel of deception and villainy in which the golden-haired heroine is not at all what she seems. But it is not just a potboiler. Indeed, Mary Elizabeth Braddon's terrific plot touches on many contemporary social concerns, including class, madness, and the separate roles of men and women. Lyn Pykett's introduction illuminates Braddon's fascinating tale of bigamy, murder, impersonation, and blackmail in the context of the 19th-century sensation novel and Braddon's immensely successful career. Throughout the book, thorough notes elucidate literary and historical allusions and shed light on the social mores of the day. In addition the book includes an up-to-date bibliography and a full chronology of Braddon's life and work.

Lady Audley's Secret was an immediate best seller, and readers have enjoyed its thrilling plot ever since its first publication in 1862. This marvelous new edition introduces Braddon's portrait of her scheming heroine to a new generation of readers.

Public Domain (P)2015 Recorded Books

A wonderful fantastic romantic mystery

If you enjoy the unlikely romantic convergence of coincidences that drive the plots of Dickens, Collins, and LeFanu, you shall love this melodramatic and at times maudlin story of love, honor, crime, and madness. It is truly a thoroughly enjoyable product of its times and place.

Love this Classic

Bigamy, child abandonment, deception, theft, murder, and insanity with a pretty good twist at the end. I love mid 1800s novels written by women and this one does not disappoint.