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Lady Audley’s Secret

By: Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Narrated by: Nicola Barber
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Summary

This Victorian best seller, along with Braddon's other famous novel Aurora Floyd, established her as the main rival of the master of the sensational novel, Wilkie Collins. A protest against the passive, insipid 19th-century heroine, Lady Audley was described by one critic of the time as "high-strung, full of passion, purpose, and movement." Her crime (the secret of the title) is shown to threaten the apparently respectable middle-class world of Victorian England.

Public Domain (P)2011 Audible, Inc.
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Editor reviews

Prolific author of British Victorian literature Braddon satisfies and defies expectation in Lady Audley’s Secret. Gorgeous Lady Audley’s aim is familiar: to secure a husband. But Lady Audley is spunky and proactive when compared to her counterparts in other works from the era. She succeeds early on in the novel through (possibly murderous) industry. Sir Audley’s nephew investigates Lady Audley, unearthing a wealth of shadowy evidence and furtive actions. Will Lady Audley retain her hard-won life? British narrator Nicola Barber’s fluid performance highlights the sophisticated, thoughtful prose. And her ability to change accents allows characters of differing backgrounds to speak. Thanks to Barber’s vivid portrayal of place and people, listeners will thrill to the drama while cheering for the wily heroine to succeed.

What listeners say about Lady Audley’s Secret

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Disliked the performance

A particularly, enjoyable Victorian melodrama, I believe it was very famous in its day. I downloaded this book because it was mentioned on a recent television programme by one of my favourite historians. Despite the disappointing performance I still appreciated the story. There were frequent loud, sharp intakes of breath which I found hard to ignore and the tempo often changed inappropriately. The local dialect of one particular character changed counties so frequently it was laughable. They sounded like they were from Birmingham, Liverpool and Newcastle during the same scene.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not all that I had hoped

Is there anything you would change about this book?

A better, English narrator is needed, the annoying deep breaths Ms Barber takes, plus the fact she does not know how to read properly and mispronounces simple words like amiable, reconnoitre and clerk

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

as written above

Could you see Lady Audley's Secret being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

There is nothing that cannot be made into a film particularly when 'love' is involved.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Reading style disappointing

What did you like best about Lady Audley's Secret? What did you like least?

If you like Victorian meladrama this is a typical book of the genre. I found the book itself entertaining.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

But ... the narrater has a dreadful reading style. I foudn that she over dramatised the reading (even considering that it is a meladrama), but more irritating than that were regular audible breaths. I ended up skipping to the end to find out what happened because I couldn't stand the reader. A shame really.

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3 people found this helpful