Lady Audley's Secret

Lady Audley's Secret Summary

Mary Elizabeth Braddon

This sensational novel, started out as a serialized story appearing in English newspapers either weekly or biweekly, was published in 1862. The narrative opens with a beautiful woman named Lucy Graham marrying wealthy Sir Michael Audley. Not much is known about Lucy as she was just a normal governess to a local doctor. The next chapter introduces George Talboys, a young man returning from Australia with riches he received from mining. He hopes to please his wife with the money as they are not financially stable. He meets up with his friend Robert Audley, Michael Audley's nephew, when the ship arrives on land and that's where George sees that his wife, Helen, died before George came home. Robert attempts to help George with his grief, but later George disappears. The narrative unfolds into a murder mystery and all suspicious signs point to Lucy Graham. Concerned about George's whereabouts, Robert leads an investigation to look into Lucy, who acts suspicious around him. After going around to several cities and talking with several of Lucy's old friends, he finds that Lucy is George's "dead" wife. She admits that she pushed George down a well. She does not know he survived and neither does Robert until after he sends Lucy to an asylum. Other subplots unfold along with the main story, but ultimately Michael ends his relationship with Lucy and George continues to heal alongside his best friend, Robert.
Mary Elizabeth Braddon(or M.E.Braddon) published many novels over the course of her life, but Lady Audley's Secret was her most popular work. She went on to publish over 80 novels and some short stories.