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.

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Connections

Connections	Author name Sort ascending	Excerpt
Wealth and Poverty	Rhoda Broughton	RB , who published almost exclusively with Bentley throughout her career, preferred to receive a lump sum for her novels rather than to rely on royalites and copyright earnings. In her reminiscence Ethel Arnold suggests...
Intertextuality and Influence	Rhoda Broughton	Esther Craven, this novel's unworldly heroine, lives in an isolated farmhouse in the Welsh countryside and dreams of a romantic hero in a fashion reminiscent of Isobel Gilbert in Mary Elizabeth Braddon 's The Doctor's Wife.
Literary responses	Rhoda Broughton	Eliza Lynn Linton , in an article that was in general highly complimentary, defended RB 's characterisation of Lenore: She is irritating and faulty, but not corrupt. Her temper and her taste are both equally...
Intertextuality and Influence	Charlotte Mary Brame	Published with an epigraph from Anne Hunter about the emotional cost of keeping a painful secret, Lady Damer's Secret presumably drew inspiration for its title from Mary Elizabeth Braddon 's Lady Audley's Secret, although...
Theme or Topic Treated in Text	Theodora Benson	In 1951 TB returned to partnership with Bentley though not with Askwith in a different treatment of famous people, London Immortals in Allan Wingate 's The Londoners' Library series. This goes through London street by...
Intertextuality and Influence	Mary Anne Barker	MAB 's discussion of schools leads her into an account of a visit made by the Norwegian missionary, Bishop Schreuder , to a later Zulu chief, Cetshwayo , taken from a blue-book or government report...
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 .
Intertextuality and Influence	Anna Atkins	Though AA 's preface concedes the the talent, the ingenuity, the very clever writing of sensation-authors, Atkins, Anna. A Page from the Peerage. T. Cautley Newby. i it also hints that they are in it for the money, and expresses outrage at what it sees...
Literary responses	Mrs Alexander	Early critic Helen Black found Her Dearest Foe to be quite absorbing. Black, Helen C. Notable Women Authors of the Day. D. Bryce. 64 Later critic Muriel Smith argues that its claims rest on its significant contribution to the development of detective fiction, rather than...

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