The flaxen-haired beauty of the childlike lady Audley would suggest that she has no secrets. But M.E Braddon’s classic novel of sensation uncovers the truth about its heroine in a plot involving bigamy, arson and murder.

It challenges assumptions about the nature of femininity and investigates the narrow divide between sanity and insanity, using as its focus one of the most fascinating of all Victorian heroines. Combining elements of the detective novel, the psychological thriller and the romance of upper class life, Lady Audley’s secret was one of the most popular and successful novels of the nineteenth century and still exerts a powerful hold on readers.