Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth BraddonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Here we are at the end of another book in The Madwoman Tradition's "Gothic Mothers" section, and I'm... honestly a little conflicted.
I don't know what I expected of Lady Audley's Secret. It's considered a "sensation" novel, so I figured there would be drama, and to be fair, it does deliver that, but not in the ways I expected. If I'm honest, I think I expected to just not enjoy this novel at all, maybe because it's a mystery and those just don't seem to work for me.
This is a book where the vibes are doing most of the work: secrets layered on secrets, a slightly unhinged energy simmering under the surface, and a narrative that keeps you questioning what you're being told. It's twisty, but in a very Victorian way, that's less about shock and awe and more about slowly realizing that something isn't quite right.
What surprised me most was my own feelings about the characters. I don't think I reacted the way the author intended, and maybe that's because I'm not its original audience with their Victorian sensibilities. I found myself less invested in the tension and more focused on the underlying dynamics: control, perception, and the way certain behaviors are judged depending on who is doing them. Because of that, I don't think the ending worked for me. It felt very "neat Victorian solution" rather than something that actually grappled with what happened.
As for Lady Audley herself... maybe I'm becoming a misandrist, but I'm still kind of on her side, which feels questionable, but here we are. Her actions read more like self-preservation than villainy to me. And Robert really just needs to take a chill pill.
All that being said, the biggest flaw for me was the pacing. There were stretches where I was really pulled in, and others where I found myself glazing over. This was originally a serialized novel, so that might be a large reason for the odd pacing.
Overall, this was good, even when it frustrated me.
View all my reviews
Post a Comment
0 Comments