Lady Audley's Secret

By: Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson

Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

A fast-paced Victorian thriller that will delight audiences today as it did 100 years ago, Lady Audley's Secret has subterfuge, kidnapping, jealousy, and fraud, all thrown into the mix and shaken up for good measure.

A mystery which keeps a listener guessing until the last moments, this production is a must-listen for anyone who enjoys playing detective.

©2007 CSA Word (P)2007 CSA Word

Critic reviews

"Sensational melodrama at its best....the tale sustains its suspense to the very end and wins our sympathy for the erring Lady Lucy." ( The Times, London)

Performance-10 STARS

The story is predictable, but interesting. The narration is amazing. I generally don't like female narrators, as most can't do men's voices well. JS is superb!!

sure it's great but...

yeah it's a great tale: classic, eloquent, rich... but it's Juliet's reading, is always Juliet's reading, that makes novels exceptional.

she reads so passionately, so richly intoxicating. her meter, her timing, her voices, her delivery, her characters... it's all perfect.

the recording, the sound, it's spot on.

This is a good story, professionally read. This is what audiobook should be.

a pleasure to listen to. again and again.

Sublimely haunting!!!

Excellent story, masterful narration. You will be enthralled the entire time and left wanting more!

A Brief Return to Audley Manor

Here, another melodramatic gothic extravaganza like I've come to love them. Might this be my 'comfort reading' region? There's historical fiction which tends to put me in a compliant mood, and then there's classic fiction, which also seems to agree with me on the whole. I usually steer clear of abridgements because if I wanted summaries of stories I'd get a Reader's Digest subscription. As a creative, I respect the author's original work too much to take those shortcuts, but in this case, I'd read the original (well, listening to it that time too, but in complete and unabridged form), so I thought refreshing my memory with the truncated version as narrated by my beloved Juliet Stevenson—who has soothed my frayed nerves many a time and over again—might be just the thing on a day when my reading life seemed to get away from me and not give me the peace of mind I've come to expect from that quarter.

The action takes place in England, in the mid-19th century. Lady Audley, formerly simply known as Lucy Graham, has married up in the world. Renown for her exquisite doll-like blonde beauty, she was formerly employed by Mr Dawson, the local doctor, as a governess, which somehow put her in the way of meeting the much older and very wealthy widower Sir Michael Audley, Baronet, who must have her as lady of his Audley manor.

Sir Michael's nephew Robert Audley, a barrister who likes to put comfort before duty, meets with his old and very good friend George Talboys upon the latter's return to England after some years of gold prospecting in Australia. Talboys is expecting to return to a wife and infant son whom he left behind to seek a great fortune, so that he might give his beloved spouse the life of luxury she deserves. But shortly after disembarking from his ship, he learns that Helen Talboys has perished from a grave illness just shortly before his arrival. He is of course completely stricken, to the point where he does not see the point of living on. George is determined to leave at once for Australia and makes Robert his little son's guardian, a son who is to receive 20,000 pounds upon his father's decease. His plan is thwarted when it transpires he has missed the ship and must wait another month for the next voyage to the antipodes.

Back at the manor, Lady Audley's erstwhile devoted maid Phoebe is about to marry her cousin Luke Marks. She brings him to her employer's home to show him the luxury she's been surrounded by, and while her lady is away, shows him the jewelry box which Lady Audley normally keeps safely locked, though on this occasion she has forgotten to take the key with her. While Luke and Phoebe are looking through the splendid jewels, her husband to be encourages his cousin to take a precious diamond necklace, but the young woman instead chooses to take a lock of hair which has been carefully wrapped and hidden away, feeling sure they can parlay this small secret into even greater wealth.

Meanwhile, Robert Audley has brought his grieving friend George to an inn near Audley manor so they can take advantage of the fishing and hunting, and in hopes of being received by his uncle to meet the new Mrs Audley, of whom the barrister has heard a great deal. But the lady repeatedly relays excuses to the two young men, in effect preventing them from meeting her in person. Not long after, George disappears without a trace, leaving no word to his friend. Robert must of course find out what happened to him. Is he still alive or dead? And why was his friend so struck by Lady Audley's portrait?

I had fun revisiting this story, though of course the abridgement leaves many gaps, where the complete novel provides great detail. There is mention that Robert is lazy and complacent of a sudden, quite late in the story, as if this is a given, when there's been no indication of this before, though I recall the novel describing his character in full. Here we must be contented with the major lines and those details that push the narrative forward. In a way, it was rather satisfying to go from the first few clues, to the fully fledged crime, to almost immediate resolution in such a short time. Still, I would advise newcomers to Braddon's novel take time to savour the complete work, a must for lovers of classic mysteries and fans of authors such as [[Wilkie Collins]]. But Juliet Stevenson does make for a splendid introduction, come to that.

Great performance!

This book had so many characters and one person reading but you would
Never know it. Outstanding performance.

very well done

This is a classic 19th century thriller by a woman who was a best-seller in Jane Austen's day - and it's terrific. The abridgement makes the story cleaner and the reader is very engaging, able to render all the voices (including the men) memorably. For a 150 year-old book, this one's a winner.

Abridged, but Well-done

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Juliet Stevenson is such a great narrator, I would recommend almost anything she reads.

Would you be willing to try another book from Mary Elizabeth Braddon? Why or why not?

I would, but I won't be looking out for it specifically. The story was supposed to be very mysterious and sensational, but for the modern audience, I think it falls short on both parts.

What about Juliet Stevenson’s performance did you like?

She has a very pleasant voice and is an actress and well able to distinguish between roles.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending was interesting, especially as there was such a long build-up to it.

Narrator creates the listen

This is so melodramatic that it plays as camp to contemporary ears.(Probably sounded camp to many in its day!) Stevenson - a great narrator - manages to read the novel so to keep it entertaining, even delightful.

I don't know if I'd tackle the unabridged version, but this version is a period treasure for the $5.95 price!

Interesting but not a "grabber"

Love the reader/reading.

Took a chance because I so admire Stevenson's talented reading. The story was just a light read. Enjoyable but not great literature.

Unexpectedly fun, great narrator.

Juliet Stevenson's readings of Austen and Gaskell brought me to this other novel, which was a fun farce and a very enjoyable listen.