At the time of its publication in 1862, Lady Audley's Secret scandalised the nation with its "accidental" bigamy and ferocious female social ambition. Drawing heavily on the case of real-life murderess Constance Kent, Braddon penned one of the most popular sensational novels of its time; a bold subversion of the conventional Victorian notion of the angel in the house with a terrifying streak of hysteria.

When the young and enchanting Lucy Graham marries widower Sir Michael Audley, little is known of her past. Following the mysterious disappearance of his friend George Talboys, Sir Michael's nephew Robert begins to investigate his step-aunt, uncovering her secret double life of intrigue, madness and murder.

Often hailed as one of the first feminist protagonists, Lucy Graham inspires sympathy and derision simultaneously. "When you say that I murdered him treacherously and foully, you lie. I killed him because I AM MAD! because my intellect is a little way upon the wrong side of that narrow boundary-line between sanity and insanity," she screams, propelled by her tenacious desire for a better life.

Whether treated as a terrifying anomaly or a vision of the birth of the upwardly mobile modern woman, there is no denying the power of the little doll-like woman. The beauty of Lady Audley's Secret lies within her, a woman whose secret is so blindingly obvious you become distracted from a wonderfully obscured plot twist, which is free to unravel delightfully.