{"product_id":"lady-audleys-secret-9781961884380","title":"Lady Audley's Secret","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLucy Graham, radiantly beautiful, born to poverty, and Sir Michael Audley, aging aristocratic widower and fabulously wealthy, are married soon after first glance. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLife is peaceful at old Audley Court until the arrival of Robert Audley- Sir Michael's nephew- and his friend George Talboys, who is home again after making his fortune in Australia. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen George mysteriously disappears, Robert takes it upon himself to find him again. Developing a detective's eye, following disturbing clue after clue, Robert becomes convinced his alluring Aunt Lucy isn't as innocent, or possibly as sane, as she seems.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLady Audley's Secret\u003c\/i\u003e first appeared in\u003ci\u003e Robin Goodfellow \u003c\/i\u003emagazine in 1861, establishing it as a \"sensational\" novel to rival Wilkie Collins' \u003ci\u003eThe Woman in White\u003c\/i\u003e (1860). A cunningly plotted mystery novel as sensual as a Pre-Raphaelite portrait, \u003ci\u003eLady Audley's Secret \u003c\/i\u003eprobes mid-Victorian anxieties about the rapid rise of consumerism with the invention of one of literature's great villainesses who goes to great lengths to secure her greatest desires.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBraddon, Mary Elizabeth:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eMary Elizabeth Braddon\u003c\/b\u003e (1835-1915) began writing at the age of eight but it was not until she won an admirer as an actress that she could settle down to write serial fiction. She became a bestselling 'sensation' author and was read avidly by Tennyson, Dickens and Thackery. She wrote over eighty novels.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCote, Rachel Vorona:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eRachel Vorona Cote\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eTOO MUCH: How Victorian Constraints Still Bind Women Today\u003c\/i\u003e. She has written essays and criticisms for \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Magazine, The Nation, The Atlantic, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Poetry Foundation, Lapham's Quarterly, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, and a number of other publications. In a past life, she was ABD at the University of Maryland, where she studied Victorian literature. She lives in Takoma Park, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWeinman, Sarah:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSarah Weinman\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of three books: \u003ci\u003eWithout Consent\u003c\/i\u003e, forthcoming in 2025; \u003ci\u003eScoundrel\u003c\/i\u003e, named a Best Book of 2022 by \u003ci\u003eTime, Esquire, CBC\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eNPR\u003c\/i\u003e and a \u003ci\u003eNYT\u003c\/i\u003e Editor's Choice; and \u003ci\u003eThe Real Lolita\u003c\/i\u003e, named a Best Book of 2018 by \u003ci\u003eNPR, BuzzFeed, The National Post, Literary Hub, \u003c\/i\u003ethe \u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eVulture\u003c\/i\u003e, and winner of the Crime Writers of Canada Award in Nonfiction. She also edited several anthologies, including Evidence of Things Seen: True Crime in an Era of Reckoning; Unspeakable Acts: True Tales of Crime, Murder, Deceit \u0026amp; Obsession, winner of the Anthony Award for Best Nonfiction\/Critical Work; \u003ci\u003eWomen Crime Writers: Eight Suspense Novels of the 1940s \u0026amp; 50s\u003c\/i\u003e (Library of America); and \u003ci\u003eTroubled Daughters, Twisted Wives\u003c\/i\u003e (Penguin).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWeinman writes the monthly Crime \u0026amp; Mystery column for the\u003ci\u003e New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e. A 2020 National Magazine Award finalist for Reporting and the recipient of fellowships from MacDowell and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, her work has also appeared most recently in \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic, Esquire, New York, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eVanity Fair, \u003c\/i\u003e while her fiction has been published in \u003ci\u003eEllery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, and numerous anthologies. Weinman also writes (albeit more sporadically) the \"Crime Lady\" newsletter, covering crime fiction, true crime, and all points in between. She lives in New York City.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEt al...\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Smith \u0026 Taylor Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51254103408914,"sku":"9781961884380","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_0b8725c6-24e3-49e3-9383-b8b6924e4e2d.jpg?v=1753186409","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/lady-audleys-secret-9781961884380","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}