Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835–1915)
Author of Lady Audley's Secret
About the Author
Mary Elizabeth Braddon, the daughter of a solicitor, was educated privately. As a young woman, she acted under an assumed name for three years in order to support herself and her mother. In 1860 she met John Maxwell, a publisher of periodicals, whose wife was in an asylum for the insane. Braddon show more acted as stepmother to Maxwell's five children and bore him five illegitimate children before the couple married, in 1874, when Maxwell's wife died. Braddon's most famous novel, Lady Audley's Secret (1862), was first published serially in Robin Goodfellow and The Sixpenny Magazine. One of the earliest sensationalist novels, it sold nearly one million copies during Braddon's lifetime. Its plot involves bigamy, the protagonist's desertion of her child, her murder of her first husband, and her thoughts of poisoning her second husband. The novel shocked and outraged her contemporary, Margaret Oliphant, who said Braddon had invented "the fair-haired demon of modern fiction." Throughout her long literary career, during which she wrote more than 80 novels and edited several magazines, Braddon was often excoriated for her penchant for sensationalizing violence, crime, and sexual indiscretion. Nevertheless, Braddon had many well-known devotees, among them William Makepeace Thackeray, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Braddon died in 1915. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
The Face in the Glass: The Gothic Tales of Mary Elizabeth Braddon (Tales of the Weird) (2014) 91 copies, 2 reviews
The Collected Supernatural and Weird Fiction of Mary Elizabeth Braddon: Volume 1 (2010) 7 copies, 1 review
Rupert Godwin 3 copies
Flower and Weed and Other Tales 2 copies
Like and Unlike 2 copies
The Works of Mary Elizabeth Braddon 2 copies
Asphodel 2 copies
Joshua Haggard's Daughter 2 copies
Lost for Love 2 copies
Strangers and Pilgrims 2 copies
Buio 2 copies
All Along the River 1 copy
A Strange World 1 copy
Belgravia, Vol. 36: An Illustrated London Magazine; July to October, 1878 (Classic Reprint) (2018) 1 copy
The White House 1 copy
British Mystery Multipack Volume 2: Lady Audley's Secret, The Four Just Men and The Ninescore Mystery (2015) 1 copy
The Conflict 1 copy
The Lady's Mile 1 copy
An Open Verdict 1 copy
The Blue Lenses / Eveline's Visitant — Author — 1 copy
Only a Woman 1 copy
The Little Woman in Black 1 copy
Hostages to Fortune 1 copy
Associated Works
Dracula's Guest: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Vampire Stories (2010) — Contributor — 317 copies, 39 reviews
The Vampire Archives: The Most Complete Volume of Vampire Tales Ever Published (2007) — Contributor — 215 copies, 5 reviews
The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (2010) — Contributor — 187 copies, 4 reviews
The Mammoth Book of Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories (1995) — Contributor — 174 copies, 4 reviews
Queens of the Abyss: Lost Stories from the Women of the Weird (2020) — Contributor — 153 copies, 4 reviews
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: A Collection of Victorian Detective Tales (2008) — Contributor — 140 copies, 1 review
In the Shadow of Agatha Christie: Classic Crime Fiction by Forgotten Female Writers, 1850-1917 (2018) — Contributor — 108 copies, 8 reviews
Chamber of Horrors: Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural (1984) — Contributor — 70 copies, 1 review
The Darker Sex: Tales of the Supernatural and Macabre by Victorian Women Writers (2009) — Contributor — 55 copies, 2 reviews
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: The Greatest Detective Stories: 1837-1914 (2019) — Contributor — 37 copies
Ladies of Horror: Two Centuries of Supernatural Stories by the Gentle Sex (1971) — Contributor — 28 copies
The Gentlewomen of Evil: An Anthology of Rare Supernatural Stories from the Pens of Victorian Ladies (1967) — Contributor — 28 copies
Sisters in Crime : Early Crime and Mystery Stories by Women (2013) — Contributor — 21 copies, 1 review
The Third Ghost Story Megapack: 26 Classic Ghost Stories (2013) — Contributor — 18 copies, 2 reviews
A Serious Occupation: Literary Criticism by Victorian Women Writers (2003) — Contributor — 15 copies
The Graphic Canon of Crime & Mystery, Vol. 2: From Salome to Edgar Allan Poe to The Silence of the Lambs (2021) — Contributor — 14 copies
Murder by Gaslight: Victorian Tales — Contributor — 4 copies
The Lady Chillers: Classic Ghost and Horror Stories by Women Authors (2014) — Contributor — 4 copies
The Wimbourne Book of Victorian Ghost Stories (Annotated): Volume 10 (2018) — Contributor — 3 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Braddon, M.E.
- Legal name
- Braddon, Mary Elizabeth
- Other names
- White, Babington
- Birthdate
- 1835-10-04
- Date of death
- 1915-02-04
- Gender
- female
- Education
- privately educated
- Occupations
- actor
novelist
short story writer
editor - Relationships
- Maxwell, W. B. (son)
- Short biography
- Mary Elizabeth Braddon was born in London and her parents separated when she was five years old. Mary worked as an actress to support herself and her mother. In 1860, she met John Maxwell, a publisher, and began living with him despite the fact that he was married with five children; his wife was in an asylum in Ireland. Mary acted as a stepmother to the children until 1874, when Maxwell's wife died and they were able to marry. They had six children together, including the future writer William Babington (W.B.) Maxwell. Mary was an extremely prolific writer, producing more than 80 novels and numerous short stories. In 1866, she founded Belgravia, a lavishly illustrated magazine that published serialized novels, poems, travel narratives, and essays on fashion, history and science.
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- London, Middlesex, England, UK
- Places of residence
- London, Middlesex, England, UK
- Place of death
- Richmond, Surrey, England, UK
- Burial location
- Richmond Cemetery, Richmond, Surrey, England, UK
- Map Location
- England, UK
Members
Discussions
July 2025: Mary Elizabeth Braddon in Monthly Author Reads (July 2025)
June 2022: Mary Elizabeth Braddon in Monthly Author Reads (June 2022)
Victorian Q1 Read-Along: Lady Audley's Secret in Club Read 2022 (April 2022)
Group read: Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon in Virago Modern Classics (May 2020)
The Trail Of The Serpent by Mary Elizabeth Braddon - lyzard tutoring SqueakyChu in 75 Books Challenge for 2013 (March 2015)
June: Reading Mary Elizabeth Braddon in Monthly Author Reads (June 2011)
Reviews
The title of this novel is probably one of the biggest understatements in fiction: the demure, unassuming little Lady Audley has secrets the way other people have hot dinners. Only a few pages into the novel, the reader has already been given enough hints to understand that she's guilty of just about every crime on the Victorian statute books, with the possible exceptions of piracy on the high seas and the sale of ecclesiastical offices. And those only because she hasn't got around to them show more yet.
Miss Braddon takes us through the unmasking of this ringleted supervillain with huge amounts of energy and with her tongue firmly in her cheek. No character is ever allowed to get very far with a moralistic soliloquy or with reflecting darkly on the evils of the world without being interrupted by some thoroughly mundane consideration, like the landlady coming in with the shaving-water or the cabbie asking for his fare. Even when the hero (finally) goes down on his knees to his girl, the reader is distracted from the young man's eloquent proposal by the creaking of joints... Braddon obviously really enjoyed what she did, as well as making money out of it.
The writing is anything but "literary": like most of us, Braddon clearly believes that clichés were put into the world to save us time and effort, and she uses them liberally. No-one says anything remotely clever or original, and the descriptions of people and places are routine and instantly forgettable. But, despite that, it's always clear, efficient and eminently readable. Everything works to advance the story in the direction she intends it to go, and we stick with her, eager to find out how it's all going to end. And there are all those dry little comments dropped in along the way to undermine any pretence at moral seriousness. Whatever we may think about the Victorians, Miss Braddon makes it clear that at least one of them wasn't having any of that nonsense... show less
Miss Braddon takes us through the unmasking of this ringleted supervillain with huge amounts of energy and with her tongue firmly in her cheek. No character is ever allowed to get very far with a moralistic soliloquy or with reflecting darkly on the evils of the world without being interrupted by some thoroughly mundane consideration, like the landlady coming in with the shaving-water or the cabbie asking for his fare. Even when the hero (finally) goes down on his knees to his girl, the reader is distracted from the young man's eloquent proposal by the creaking of joints... Braddon obviously really enjoyed what she did, as well as making money out of it.
The writing is anything but "literary": like most of us, Braddon clearly believes that clichés were put into the world to save us time and effort, and she uses them liberally. No-one says anything remotely clever or original, and the descriptions of people and places are routine and instantly forgettable. But, despite that, it's always clear, efficient and eminently readable. Everything works to advance the story in the direction she intends it to go, and we stick with her, eager to find out how it's all going to end. And there are all those dry little comments dropped in along the way to undermine any pretence at moral seriousness. Whatever we may think about the Victorians, Miss Braddon makes it clear that at least one of them wasn't having any of that nonsense... show less
Amazingly good. Apparently this was THE book of the mid-19th century. As it should be. Mystery! Intrigue! A steadily unfurling plot that takes twists and turns and bashes misogyny in the head a few times. Couldn't stop listening.
This isn’t by any means the most sensational of Braddon’s novels (her Trail of the Serpent, for instance, is much more infused with blood, menace, and general gothic yumminess) but it delivers plenty of entertainment for all that, while simultaneously managing to be a lot more thought-provoking.
Lady Audley’s “secret” is actually pretty tame by today’s standards, and is revealed early in the novel. The rest of the chapters then focus on how protecting her secret drives her to show more increasingly more sensational extremes, and the process by which her crimes are gradually revealed through a combination of investigation, coincidence, and plain bad luck. The “detective” of the piece is Lord Audley's nephew, a likeable but unapologetically lazy fellow who, over the course of the investigation, gradually becomes more decisive, proactive, and ambitious, a progression that readers of Braddon’s day would have found highly morally satisfying. The supporting cast includes a feisty cousin, a pair of scheming servants, smitten lovers, mad mothers, rascally husbands, and unprincipled fathers; the ambiance incorporates such satisfyingly gothic tropes as seedy inns, overgrown gardens, candlelit manor houses, and ominously unattended wells.
But Lady Audley is the true sensation of the story – the one non-stereotype among this host of sensational-fiction prerequisites. She’s beautiful, kind, and loving – but also sensual, greedy, scheming, and incredibly quick-witted … In other words, pretty much totally unlike any fictional female protagonist of the day. Her crimes, moreover, are relatively more manly (greed, self-preservation) than womanly (passion). It’s as if Braddon has deliberately set out to challenge the Victorian notion of women as either angels or whores by creating a villainess who possesses the qualities of both, and then posing the question: how do you appropriately judge and punish a woman whose crimes might be considered – if not justifiable – then at least understandable, predictable, if they were committed by a man?
In its original form, this was published as a serial, with new chapters released over time. This likely accounts for the structure of the tale, in which initial chapters stuffed with scandal and innuendo (designed to hook the reader) are followed by more meandering chapters in which the main investigation shares screen time with subplots involving blackmail and romance (designed to sustain interest), culminating in a denouement designed to deliver closure and satisfaction to the tale’s loyal readers. Except that “satisfactory” is a relative term in this instance, because Victorian literature doesn’t extend so far as suggesting “appropriate” consequences for a woman of Lady Audley’s innovations. Braddon’s solution at once challenges Victorian gender norms – especially the conventions that regard women as possessions, associate beauty with goodness, and hold women accountable to impossible standards of virtue and self-sacrifice - while simultaneously acknowledging the period’s legal and moral constraints.
In summary - if you're looking for over-the-top gothic horror, you may wish to give this a pass; but if you don't mind your sensational stories leavened by a bit of social commentary and seasoned with a generous measure of deliciously sly wit, then you've come to the right place. show less
Lady Audley’s “secret” is actually pretty tame by today’s standards, and is revealed early in the novel. The rest of the chapters then focus on how protecting her secret drives her to show more increasingly more sensational extremes, and the process by which her crimes are gradually revealed through a combination of investigation, coincidence, and plain bad luck. The “detective” of the piece is Lord Audley's nephew, a likeable but unapologetically lazy fellow who, over the course of the investigation, gradually becomes more decisive, proactive, and ambitious, a progression that readers of Braddon’s day would have found highly morally satisfying. The supporting cast includes a feisty cousin, a pair of scheming servants, smitten lovers, mad mothers, rascally husbands, and unprincipled fathers; the ambiance incorporates such satisfyingly gothic tropes as seedy inns, overgrown gardens, candlelit manor houses, and ominously unattended wells.
But Lady Audley is the true sensation of the story – the one non-stereotype among this host of sensational-fiction prerequisites. She’s beautiful, kind, and loving – but also sensual, greedy, scheming, and incredibly quick-witted … In other words, pretty much totally unlike any fictional female protagonist of the day. Her crimes, moreover, are relatively more manly (greed, self-preservation) than womanly (passion). It’s as if Braddon has deliberately set out to challenge the Victorian notion of women as either angels or whores by creating a villainess who possesses the qualities of both, and then posing the question: how do you appropriately judge and punish a woman whose crimes might be considered – if not justifiable – then at least understandable, predictable, if they were committed by a man?
In its original form, this was published as a serial, with new chapters released over time. This likely accounts for the structure of the tale, in which initial chapters stuffed with scandal and innuendo (designed to hook the reader) are followed by more meandering chapters in which the main investigation shares screen time with subplots involving blackmail and romance (designed to sustain interest), culminating in a denouement designed to deliver closure and satisfaction to the tale’s loyal readers. Except that “satisfactory” is a relative term in this instance, because Victorian literature doesn’t extend so far as suggesting “appropriate” consequences for a woman of Lady Audley’s innovations. Braddon’s solution at once challenges Victorian gender norms – especially the conventions that regard women as possessions, associate beauty with goodness, and hold women accountable to impossible standards of virtue and self-sacrifice - while simultaneously acknowledging the period’s legal and moral constraints.
In summary - if you're looking for over-the-top gothic horror, you may wish to give this a pass; but if you don't mind your sensational stories leavened by a bit of social commentary and seasoned with a generous measure of deliciously sly wit, then you've come to the right place. show less
OMG - where has Mary Elizabeth Braddon been all my life? She was a contemporary of Dickens, the precursor of Wilkie Collins, and (the foreward argues) instrumental in establishing the detective fiction genre - so you'd think her works would be more widely available. Alas, no - female writers of "sensational fiction" weren't taken seriously back in the 19th century and didn't fare much better in the 20th century, so her works (excepting her "Lady Audley's Secret") gradually passed out of show more print. Thank you, Modern Library, for bringing back this gem!
"The Trail of the Serpent" has everything you could want in a "sensational novel" of the Victorian era: foundlings, wastrels, prodigal sons, identical twins separated at birth, bigamy, greed, love, hate, secret marriages, murder, madness, depravity, alchemy, secret societies, abject poverty, egregious wealth, a mute detective (how's that for "woke"?), and practically every other melodramatic trope you can imagine, all tied together by the machinations of a gloriously clever, deliciously evil villain determined to do whatever it takes to rise from obscurity to the heights of European society.
Which could be a hot mess in the hands of a schlock, but make no mistake about it - Braddon can write! She's intelligent, witty, and a gifted storyteller. Yes, her plot is sensational, but it's also stuffed with biting social commentary, delicious satire/irony, and laugh-out-loud comedic set-pieces.
Kirkus Review calls this "exuberantly campy" and it's hard to improve on this as a two-word summary. But Trail of the Serpent isn't just fun; it marks an important transition from the sensational, serialized novels of the day to the more serious literary writing of Dickens and his ilk. So go ahead and read it for the fun, then boast about reading it for the literary cred! show less
"The Trail of the Serpent" has everything you could want in a "sensational novel" of the Victorian era: foundlings, wastrels, prodigal sons, identical twins separated at birth, bigamy, greed, love, hate, secret marriages, murder, madness, depravity, alchemy, secret societies, abject poverty, egregious wealth, a mute detective (how's that for "woke"?), and practically every other melodramatic trope you can imagine, all tied together by the machinations of a gloriously clever, deliciously evil villain determined to do whatever it takes to rise from obscurity to the heights of European society.
Which could be a hot mess in the hands of a schlock, but make no mistake about it - Braddon can write! She's intelligent, witty, and a gifted storyteller. Yes, her plot is sensational, but it's also stuffed with biting social commentary, delicious satire/irony, and laugh-out-loud comedic set-pieces.
Kirkus Review calls this "exuberantly campy" and it's hard to improve on this as a two-word summary. But Trail of the Serpent isn't just fun; it marks an important transition from the sensational, serialized novels of the day to the more serious literary writing of Dickens and his ilk. So go ahead and read it for the fun, then boast about reading it for the literary cred! show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 147
- Also by
- 84
- Members
- 5,007
- Popularity
- #5,004
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 168
- ISBNs
- 551
- Languages
- 8
- Favorited
- 27
