Lady Audley's Secret is a sensation novel by Mary Elizabeth Braddon published in 1862.[1] It was Braddon's most successful and well-known novel. Critic John Sutherland (1989) described the work as "the most sensationally successful of all the sensation novels".[1] The plot centres on "accidental bigamy" which was in literary fashion in the early 1860s.[1] The plot was summarised by literary critic Elaine Showalter (1982): "Braddon's 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".[2][3] Elements of the novel mirror themes of the real-life Constance Kent case of June 1860 which gripped the nation for years.[4] Braddon's second 'bigamy' novel, Aurora Floyd, appeared in 1863. Braddon set the story in Ingatestone Hall, Essex, inspired by a visit there.[5] There have been three silent film adaptations, one UK television version in 2000, and three minor stage adaptations.
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