Mary Elizabeth Braddon

04 October 1835 - 04 February 1915

Standard Name: Braddon, Mary Elizabeth

Birth Name: Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Pseudonym: Mary Seyton

Pseudonym: Babington White

Pseudonym: Lady Caroline Lascelles

Pseudonym: Aunt Belinda

Pseudonym: The author of Lady Audley's Secret

Self-constructed Name: M. E. Braddon

Married Name: Mary Elizabeth Maxwell

Used Form: Miss M. E. Braddon

MEB made her name, scandalously, in the early 1860s as a founder of the intricately plotted sensation novel, and was particularly known for her transgressive heroines. Although still most strongly associated with this and the related genres of gothic, mystery and detective stories, she also contributed significantly during her 56-year career to the psychological and realist novels, in addition to writing several dramas (some of them produced) and publishing in her youth one long poem in a collection with shorter ones. Dedicated to writing for the new and expanding mass reading public (including fiction for the penny press), and associated from the outset with novel advertising and publishing practices, she issued her work serially, edited Belgravia magazine from 1866 to 1876 (as well as a Christmas annual), and survived the demise of the triple-decker novel.

Full profile

Connections

Connections Sort descending	Author name	Excerpt
Literary responses	Jean Ingelow	The Athenæum remarked that in spite of many faults in construction, we had seldom read a more charming novel of the domestic kind. Athenæum. J. Lection. 2355 (1872): 765 The review mentioned that JI seemed to live in...
Literary responses	Georgiana Chatterton	Henry Fothergill Chorley in the Athenæum wrote that this work had come from the pen of an amiable and accomplished lady and that it could only be described as an amazing production. Athenæum. J. Lection. 1879 (1863): 566
Literary responses	Ellen Wood	Early discussions of EW as a sensation writer often linked her writing to that of Mary Elizabeth Braddon , despite the two authors' vastly different styles and perspectives. In 1863 a review of Our Female...
Literary responses	Henrietta Camilla Jenkin	The Saturday Review called Once and Again a great advance upon any previous effort of the writer's. Kirk, John Foster, and S. Austin Allibone, editors. A Supplement to Allibone’s Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors. J. B. Lippincott. The young Vernon Lee praised this novel enthusiastically in an Italian article published in La Rivista in October...
Literary responses	Adelaide Kemble	The novel was extremely well received. The Athenæum reviewer had never encountered so racy and original a move sideways into writing, and sought to establish AK 's worth by contrasting her with a woman writer...
Occupation	Constance Smedley	Since the Langham Place Group had provided a social space for women in 1860, several organizations had already challenged the flourishing institution of men's clubs. The Lyceum Club came on the scene at a time...
Occupation	Gustave Flaubert	One of the great practioners of literary realism, he shifted the European novel significantly towards naturalism. His influence ranged far, from literary friends such as Émile Zola to writers in English, including Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Occupation	Queen Victoria	Not all of QV 's subjects were pleased with the idea of the Jubilee, however. Some were sceptical of the uncritical commercialization which played such a large role in the festivities. In Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Occupation	Honoré de Balzac	Mary Russell Mitford translated some of Balzac's works. His oeuvre influenced many writers, including Mary Elizabeth Braddon , Storm Jameson , and Natalie Clifford Barney , and has attracted criticism from Anita Brookner .
Publishing	Mary Angela Dickens	MAD published Miss Braddon at Home, her interview with Mary Elizabeth Braddon , in The Windsor Magazine: For Men and Women. Dickens, Mary Angela. “Miss Braddon at Home”. The Windsor Magazine: For Men and Women, Vol. 6 , No. 33, pp. 415-18. 415-18
Publishing	Thomas Hardy	TH 's first novel, The Poor Man and the Lady, was rejected in turn by Macmillan (after reading by Alexander Macmillan and John Morley ), by Chapman and Hall (after reading by George Meredith
Publishing	Beatrice Harraden	BH had her first short story accepted for Belgravia (formerly edited by Mary Elizabeth Braddon ) after Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine had declined it. Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/. She went on to publish other contributions to Blackwood's; even by...
Publishing	Charlotte Riddell	CR 's next publishers, Tinsley Brothers , had close ties to the circulating libraries and provided a real boost to her career. Their biggest recent success had been Mary Elizabeth Braddon 's Lady Audley's Secret...
Reception	Ouida	Within a few years of her first novel's publication, Ouida had attained some celebrity as a writer, but not all the attention she received was positive. While her sales were strong, she was attacked for...
Reception	Sarah Waters	SW calls this book on the one hand a homage to the sensation novels of Braddon and Wilkie Collins , on the other hand a reflection of 1990s excitement over the concept of queer. Writing...

Timeline

No timeline events available.

Texts

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. The Lady’s Mile. Ward, Lock, and Tyler, 1866.

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. The Octoroon. Editor Carnell, Jennifer, Sensation Press, 1999.

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. The Rose of Life. Brentano’s, 1905.

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. The Rose of Life. Hutchinson, 1905.

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth, and Sarah Waters. The Trail of the Serpent. Editor Willis, Chris, Modern Library, 2003.

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Thou Art the Man. Simpkin, Marshall, 1894.

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Three Times Dead. W. M. Clark, 1860.

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Vixen. J. and R. Maxwell, 1879.