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A review by selenajournal
Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
5.0
I don't know how it is that I haven't yet read a sensation novel but it is never too late to begin. Lady Audley's Secret was a joy to read.
The story begins with a lavish description of the Audley house which set the perfect stage for what ended up being an intriguing mystery. Lady Audley's Secret is told from the perspective of Robert Audley as he investigates a murder, one he believes that Lady Lucy Audley, his uncle's new wife, committed.
As a reader, I assumed this was the secret and that the story was going to culminate in a confession. I was ecstatic to find out that there was much more to the story than this. In that way, it is more sophisticated than the very mystery stories popular as of late which have soured my taste for them. The characters which seemed straight-forward at first had growing roles as the novel continued. No character was introduced without purpose.
Lady Audley's Secret is by no means a simple book. It takes issues of gender in a time when it was rarely allowed into question. Critics still debate what it is that Braddon meant to say with Lady Audley's character (and many others, to be fair). The story would have you believe that Lucy Audley really was a truly flawed character - that she deserved her punishment. But I believe that with the solving of the mystery, we see her innocence.
The sensation novel was dragged through the mud by the critics due to its supposed lack of literary merit. It seems ironic considering this novel has been in print since it was first published in 1862. Of the books I've read this year, Mary Elziabeth's Lady Audley's Secret surely makes it on the top five.
The story begins with a lavish description of the Audley house which set the perfect stage for what ended up being an intriguing mystery. Lady Audley's Secret is told from the perspective of Robert Audley as he investigates a murder, one he believes that Lady Lucy Audley, his uncle's new wife, committed.
As a reader, I assumed this was the secret and that the story was going to culminate in a confession. I was ecstatic to find out that there was much more to the story than this. In that way, it is more sophisticated than the very mystery stories popular as of late which have soured my taste for them. The characters which seemed straight-forward at first had growing roles as the novel continued. No character was introduced without purpose.
Lady Audley's Secret is by no means a simple book. It takes issues of gender in a time when it was rarely allowed into question. Critics still debate what it is that Braddon meant to say with Lady Audley's character (and many others, to be fair). The story would have you believe that Lucy Audley really was a truly flawed character - that she deserved her punishment. But I believe that with the solving of the mystery, we see her innocence.
The sensation novel was dragged through the mud by the critics due to its supposed lack of literary merit. It seems ironic considering this novel has been in print since it was first published in 1862. Of the books I've read this year, Mary Elziabeth's Lady Audley's Secret surely makes it on the top five.