Showing results by author "Mary Elizabeth-Braddon" in All Categories

Darkness falls. The undead rise to feast on the succulent blood of the living. For years vampires have fascinated great writers of the occult such as De Maupassant, Count Stenbock, E Nesbit and EF Benson. This is The Story Circle's collection of some of their spine-chilling tales told by award-winning actors.

In the golden age of steam, the London train wends its way across the Tamar into the strange and mystic land that is Cornwall, having left most of its length at Plymouth. A weary doctor is gazing at the countryside when the train grinds to a halt and his professional attention is demanded. A young woman. An apparent suicide. Who was she? What brought her to Cornwall? What drove her to kill herself? Or did she?

Follow the idyllic lives of Clara and Robert Hatrell, who dwell in a charming old-fashioned cottage with their young daughter Daisy on the serene banks of the Thames. Their lives take a turn when their son Cyril leaves for school and their scholarly neighbour Ambrose Arden steps in to tutor Daisy. The plot thickens when Robert, carrying a hefty sum of money, is discovered murdered in a London boarding house, lured by the mysterious Toinette. With the murderer on the loose and a trail of money pointing to a Frenchwoman cashing notes in Cannes, Nice, and Paris, the story takes us on a gripping ...

The life of young, beautiful, and wealthy Grace Perivale is turned upside down when her beloved husband, Hector, dies unexpectedly. With her heart torn apart and her high societal standing offering no reprieve from her grief, she spends three years in widowhood. On her return to London after wintering in Italy, she finds herself ostracized by the very society she was once the center of. Her close friend Sue reveals an unthinkable scandal linked to Graces name. Grace vehemently denies any wrongdoing, but the question remains - who is spreading these damaging rumors and what is their motive? ...

In this riveting murder mystery, Sybil, a humble woman who has had to earn her keep, finally lands a job as her wealthy uncles housekeeper. The job seems too good to be true - not only does it involve minimal work and respect, but it also promises a hefty inheritance. Everything takes a turn when she falls for a man she shouldnt, and her uncle mysteriously dies from poison. Suddenly, all eyes are on Sybil. Can she clear her name? What secrets did her uncle carry to his grave? This enthralling tale, reminiscent of the works of Wilkie Collins, explores not only the suspense of a murder mystery, ...

In the blissful setting of a perfect honeymoon, a wife is haunted by recurring nightmares of her husbands murder. She attempts to warn him, to convince him of the chilling reality of her dreams. However, he dismisses her, until the grim day her nightmares come true. As the mystery unfolds, the question remains - who is the real murderer, and how will the devastated wife cope with her haunting premonitions becoming reality? - Summary by Stav Nisser

A classic Victorian sensation novel filled with romance, mystery, and murder with the emphasis on romance. Christabel, a beautiful young heiress, has been brought up properly by her wealthy aunt. The aunt’s greatest longing is for Christabel to marry her scoundrel son, whom the mother believes to be perfect. While her son is off traveling in America, a wonderful young man comes to stay in their home for a while, and he wins Christabel's heart. So Christabel must choose between the man she loves and the scoundrel son of the woman who brought her up and whom she loves and respects.FEAT DESC

This early work by Mary Elizabeth Braddon was originally published in 1889 and we are now republishing it with a brand new biography of the author. 'The Day Will Come' is one of Braddon's novels in the sensation literature genre. Mary Elizabeth Braddon was born in Soho, London, England in 1835. She was educated privately in England and France, and at the age of just nineteen was offered a commission by a local printer to produce a serial novel "combining the humour of Dickens with the plot and construction of G. P. R. Reynolds".

John Fausset persuades his wife that they should take his ward, Fay, under their roof. Their young daughter, Mildred, instantly takes Fay to her heart, but mystery surrounds the young girl.

Darnel Park is situated in a county that thrives on gossip and secrets, and the Darnel family, as it turns out, has many of them. An attempt at Sir Allan Darnel’s life, after various misunderstandings and misdirections, reveals an estranged son and a mysterious fiancée, and the Darnel family scrambles to conceal these new developments from not only the county but the Scotland Yard detective called in to investigate.

"He was a stranger in Matcham, a 'foreigner' as the villagers called such alien visitors. He had never been in the village before, knew nothing of its inhabitants or its surroundings, its customs, ways, local prejudices, produce, trade, scandals, hates, loves, subserviencies, gods, or devils , and yet henceforward he was to be closely allied with Matcham, for a certain bachelor uncle had lately died and left him a small estate within a mile of the village."

Clara and Robert Hatrell lead an ideal life with their young daughter Daisy in a beautiful old fashioned cottage on the banks of the Thames. When his son Cyril goes away to school their friend and neighbor Ambrose Arden who is a notable scholar offers to tutor Daisy. Some time later Robert carrying a large amount in banknotes is found stabbed to death in a London rooming house supposedly lured there by the mention of someone called Toinette. The murderer is not found and the money trail implicates a Frenchwoman exchanging the notes in Cannes, Nice and Paris.

We see another facet of Mary Elizabeth Braddon's amazing talent in Dead Love Has Chains, written in her seventies. Focusing on character and human psychology rather than detection and crime, this is one of her most interesting novels. Pregnant and unmarried Irene Thelliston is sent home from India to live with her Aunt in Ireland. On her sea voyage she reveals her secret to Lady Mary Harling who swears to keep her confidence. Several years later to the horror of Lady Mary she becomes engaged to her son Conrad who has his own rather questionable past.

In all things that he did, Flora's well-being was the doctor's paramount consideration. He brought pleasant people to his house; men of professional standing, and their wives. He sought to win friends for her, and the gentle charm of her manner endeared her to the people he brought about her, almost in spite of herself. To know her was to love her.

When The Doctor's Wife was first published in 1864, Mary Elizabeth Braddon was well known for her scandalous bestseller, Lady Audley's Secret. Adultery, death, and the spectacle of female recrimination and suffering are the elements that combine to make The Doctor's Wife a classic women's 'sensation' novel. Yet it is also Braddon's most self-consciously literary work and her rewriting of Madame Bovary. Like Emma Bovary, Braddon's heroine, Isabel Gilbert, is trapped in a marriage to a man incapable of understanding her imaginative life.

A classic Victorian sensation novel filled with romance, mystery, and murder with the emphasis on romance. Christabel, a beautiful young heiress, has been brought up properly by her wealthy aunt. The aunt’s greatest longing is for Christabel to marry her scoundrel son, whom the mother believes to be perfect. While her son is off traveling in America, a wonderful young man comes to stay in their home for a while, and he wins Christabel's heart. So Christabel must choose between the man she loves and the scoundrel son of the woman who brought her up and whom she loves and respects.

A late 19th Century sensation novel following the young life of Ida Palliser as she searches for fortune and love within England's Gentry Class. Victorian sensation books were often set in ordinary, familiar setting, undermining the perceived adherence to social convention. They exposed the true lives of Victorian England's upper class - lives they tried to keep hidden.

The novel traces the return of a young Englishwoman from several years of schooling abroad, to find that her life will not take up where she thought it would. Clarissa Lovel faced not only an emotionally and financially bereft father, but her first glimpse at love - and that not from the best vantage point.

Brought up by a parish schoolmaster with a hidden past, Sylvia Carew dreams of a future devoid of poverty. Will she be faithful to the man she adores or will she opt for the chance at wealth and position? What lengths will she go to and when all is said and done, will she be gratified with her "happily ever after"? Romance, ambition and greed, deceit and selfishness are at the root of this sensational Victorian novel by Braddon. As usual she manages to keep us in suspense until her well constructed surprise ending.

Mary Elizabeth Braddon's first novel, "Lady Audley's Secret", was one of the most popular English novels of its day. Published serially in 1862, it tells the story of the lovely Lucy Graham, who becomes Lady Audley at the beginning of the novel, and who conceals a scandalous secret from her new husband and his family. The plot, which includes madness, bigamy, attempted murder, and seduction, made this a shocking but highly successful story for Victorian audiences. It remains one of the best examples of 19th century sensational fiction, and is a wonderfully absorbing book.