By Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Lady Audley’s Secret is a Victorian novel which centers around the mysterious disappearance of George Talboys.
After spending years in Australia, George returns to England with a fortune made only to find out his much beloved wife is dead. His friend, Robert Audley, takes charge of him in the year succeeding his wife’s death until he (George) mysteriously disappears. Audley soon suspects foul play and begins his investigation. What happens next? You will have to read to find out.
Overall I thought the story was good. I thought it hysterical that while I love a good mystery, I had no idea this book was one until I started reading it. It was like ESP for my preferred genre or something. I found this book at times to be annoying in the same way that I been annoyed by other Victorian writers: the constant allusions which need to be explained in footnotes (I don’t do footnotes because I just don’t care that much) and the long melodramatic thoughts that carry on for pages (ugg who cares? Stop whining). I have these issues with Wilkie Collins books which I am a fan of and they were heavy in Middlemarch which I hated. I am beginning to think these are Victorian characteristics and makes me consider reading some Charles Dickens to back up my hypothesis, except I do not care for Dickens. AT ALL. I haven’t read any of his major works in years without loss of sleep (although I must confess I did read a book of four of his Christmas short stories the year before last) .
My final though on this book is that George expects (before finding she is dead) that his wife will be waiting with a warm welcome. Um, he left her destitute for years with a baby to raise without a word. If I were Mrs. Talboys and I were alive, I would have slammed the door in his face and told him he could stick it. Idiot.
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