Lady Audley's Secret (Annotated)

First published in 1862, Lady Audley's Secret is one of the defining works of Victorian sensation fiction, transforming the respectable country-house novel into a theatre of crime, concealment, and psychological unease. Braddon's plot turns on the beautiful Lucy Audley, whose charm masks a buried past involving desertion, assumed identity, and possible violence. Written in a vivid, suspenseful sty...