Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Una de las más célebres novelas de suspense y misterio victorianas. Su autora, M.E. Braddon, se alzó como reina de la intriga decimonónica junto a Wilkie Collins. Su obra permanece inédita o descatalogada.Junto a Wilkie Collins se elevo al mas alto escalafon de la novela de misterio

Lady Audley's Secret is, perhaps, the most famous of the Victorian 'sensation' novels. 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 to Sir Michael's nephew Robert, she is not all that she seems. When his good friend George Talboys suddenly disappears, Robert 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?

Father and daughter worked together at the trade of letters in the days when George the Second was king and Grub Street was a reality. For them literature was indeed a trade, since William Thornton wrote only what the booksellers wanted, and adjusted the supply to the demand. No sudden inspirations, no freaks of a vagabond fancy ever distracted him from the question of bread and cheese; so many sides of letter-paper to produce so many pounds. He wrote everything. He contributed verse as well as prose to the Gentlemans Magazine, and had been the winner of one of those prizes which the liberal Mr. Cave offered for the best poem sent to him.

La historia de la literatura universal está plagada de ejemplos de mujeres malignas que han manipulado la voluntad de los hombres utilizando como armas su inteligencia y belleza, mostrando la debilidad del hombre ante las dulces palabras y el erotismo.Como fiel reflejo de la sociedad en que se desarrolla, la literatura muestra los cambios y terrenos que ha ganado la mujer a lo largo de la historia. Aun queda mucho camino que recorrer pero Medea, Sherezade, Morella, Madame Bovary e, incluso, Lisbeth Salander han ayudado a defender y reivindicar los derechos de la mujer.En esta antologia no hemos hecho distincion entre autores o autoras pues nos hemos centrado plenamente en los personajes femeninos como ejes de la antologia. La maldad que estos reflejan, como vera el lector, se produce por el desamor, la venganza o la incomprension y estara repleta de tintes sobrenaturales y misteriosos.Todos los relatos obedecen a la tradicion gotica y son fiel reflejo de esta. Por tanto, el lector observara que, en todos ellos, bajo la atmosfera de misterio laten conflictos amorosos mal resueltos y oscuros impulsos sentimentales. Esperamos que el lector disfrute de esta seleccion de relatos que tienen como protagonistas a mujeres malignas.

This Victorian bestseller, along with Braddon''s other famous novel, 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.

Il y a des maisons qui, ni plus ni moins que des personnes, ont un air respectable elles rendent confiants les fournisseurs les plus sceptiques ; les caisses de marchandises franchissent leur seuil dun bond et meme les gamins qui vagabondent par la ville sen eloignent, discrets et respectueux, faisant sans doute reflexion quil ne serait point decent de prendre ses ebats en des lieux si honnetes.Une de ces maisons-la selevait, il y a quelques annees, dans une toute petite rue de louest de Londres, entre Holborn et leglise de Saint-Pancrace. Il est peut-etre dans lordre que la distinction excessive simpose, de telle sorte quelle en devienne desagreable. La splendeur immaculee du No 14 de Fitzgeorge Street semblait une sorte dinsolence permanente adressee aux autres maisons, ses humbles voisines. Le No 14 faisait un contraste penible avec lentourage pauvre, presque sale. Les rideaux de mousseline du parloir du No 15 etaient jaunis, fanes par la fumee, et leclatante blancheur des rideaux du No 14 soulignait cruellement leur misere. Mme Magson, la logeuse du No 13, se donnait un mal denfer, frottait, epoussetait du matin au soir ; mais la pauvre femme perdait sa peine, et elle se desesperait en pensant quelle aurait beau faire elle ne parviendrait jamais a rendre les dalles de ses marches et le bouton de sa porte aussi luisants, aussi nets que ceux du No 14.

The last notes of a favorite waltz resounded through the splendid saloons of Mrs. Montresors mansion in Grosvenor Square; sparkling eyes and glittering jewels flashed in the lamp-light; the rival queens of rank and beauty shone side by side upon the aristocratic crowd; the rich perfumes of exotic blossoms floated on the air; brave men and lovely women were met together to assist the farewell ball given by the wealthy American, Mrs. Montresor, on her departure for New Orleans with her lovely niece, Adelaide Horton, whose charming face and sprightly manners had been the admiration of all London during the season of 1860.The haughty English beauties were by no means pleased to see the sensation made by the charms of the vivacious young American, whose brilliant and joyous nature contrasted strongly with the proud and languid daughters of fashion who entrenched themselves behind a barrier of icy reserve, which often repelled their admirers.

But who cares about the chance of cold and gloom six weeks hence when to-day is fair and balmy? A hum of joyous, foolish voices echoed from those palace façades, and floated out seaward, and rang along the narrow Calle, and drifted on the winding water-ways, and resounded under the innumerable bridges; for everywhere in the City by the Sea men, women, and children were making merry, and had given themselves up to a wild and childish rapture of unreasoning mirth, ready to explode into loud laughter at the sorriest jokes. An old man tapped upon the shoulder by a swinging paper lanterna boy whose hat had been knocked offa woman calling to her husband or her lover across the gay flotillaanything was food for mirth on this holiday evening, while the great gold orb sank in the silvery lagoon, and all the sky yonder towards Chioggia was dyed with the crimson afterglow, and the Chioggian fishing-boats were moving westward in all the splendour of their painted sails.

Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1837-1915), Victorian Englands bestselling woman writer, blends Dickensian humor with chilling suspense in this exuberantly campy (Kirkus Reviews) mystery. The novel features Jabez North, a manipulative orphan who becomes a ruthless killer; Valerie de Cevennes, a stunning heiress who falls into Norths diabolical trap; and Mr. Peters, a mute detective who communicates his brilliant reasoning through sign language. This edition includes a critical Afterword and endnotes by Victorian scholar Dr. Chris Willis.

Great Victorian mystery classic, beautifully plotted, suspenseful; praised by Thackery, Boucher, Starrett, others.

Lady Audleys Secret - Mary Elizabeth Braddon - Written in 1862 by the considerably talented sensation novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon, "Lady Audleys Secret" is a story revolving around Robert Audley, a man determined to find out the cause of his friend George Talboys death. As the mystery unfolds, Robert meets his uncles wife, Lucy Audley, who he suspects of keeping secrets. With his friends son in questionable safety and lies, deception, and treachery closing in around him, Robert must uncover all that has been hidden while finding himself in increasing peril. A bestseller in Victorian England despite its scandalously immoral content, "Lady Audleys Secret" addresses the domestic anxieties, gender and class conflicts, and consequences of industrialization of an era, ultimately creating a heroine as remarkable as she was threatening in her time.

Lady Audleys Secret is a sensation novel by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. The plot was summarised by literary critic Elaine Showalter (1982): "Braddons 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. A follow-up novel, Aurora Floyd, appeared in 1863. Braddon set the story in Ingatestone Hall, Essex, inspired by a visit there. There have been three silent film adaptations, one UK television version in 2000, and three minor stage adaptations. Braddon initially sold the rights to the Irish publisher John Maxwell, with whom Braddon also lived and had children. Maxwell published it in his ailing magazine Robin Goodfellow, but Braddon did not labour much, writing the final third in less than two weeks. Not until it was published as a three-volume novel by William Tinsley did it become a success and allow Braddon to be financially independent for the remainder of her life. It also enriched her publisher William Tinsley, who went on to build a villa at Barnes, Audley Lodge, with the profits. Notably for the bigamous nature of the plot, Maxwell himself was married to another woman and thus Braddon was unable to marry him until his wife died in 1874. When it became public that Maxwell and Braddon had been living in an "irregular" arrangement all those years, it caused a minor scandal during which all their servants gave notice.

In the quaint town of Ashleigh, where secrets whisper through the cobblestone streets, Charlotte inherits a grand estate from her enigmatic aunt. But as she delves into her newfound legacy, she uncovers a web of deceit and danger that threatens to unravel her very existence.Haunted by cryptic messages and shadowed by a mysterious stranger, Charlotte embarks on a perilous journey to uncover the truth behind her inheritance. With each step, she uncovers a labyrinth of hidden motives and forbidden desires, leading her to question everything she thought she knew.