Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present
Mary Elizabeth Braddon
-
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.
In her first essay, Lee offers a summary analysis of the English novelistic tradition. Judging them especially, though not entirely, on their treatments of morality, she evaluates writers including Jane Austen
, Maria Edgeworth
,...
Textual Production
Bryony Lavery
BL
's numerous plays for radio include some original and some adapted from other works: Laying Ghosts, The Twelve Days of Christmas, Velma and Therese (a parallel version of the film Thelma and...
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...
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...
Textual Production
Henry James
Although HJ
is best remembered as a novelist, he was also a prolific and insightful critic of literature and the arts. Over the course of his career he reviewed many novels by British women writers...
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.
This book bore the author's name as Elizabeth Helme, Jun. and its preface warns that spoiling children may lead them to rush into the vortex of vice and folly
Somerville, Elizabeth Helme. James Manners, Little John, and Their Dog Bluff. Darton and Harvey.
iii
(a phrase characteristic of sensation...
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...
In her capacity as editor of this journal she mentored and supervised Mary Elizabeth Braddon
, who was also working for it. The St. James's Magazine continued to publish (ending on the original title after...
Education
Stella Gibbons
SG
learned to read fairly late, but then read voraciously. The glowing Eastern landscapes and brilliant figures
Oliver, Reggie. Out of the Woodshed: A Portrait of Stella Gibbons. Bloomsbury.
20
of Disraeli
's Alroy and Thomas Moore
's Lalla Rookh made a particular impression. She also developed...
Textual Features
Elizabeth Gaskell
Some of the lesser characters are interesting. Sally, the crusty but faithful servant, presses her savings on her employers when they fall on hard times; she was satirised by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
in Rupert Godwin...
Intertextuality and Influence
Elizabeth Gaskell
The book was well received. The situation and character of its father and daughter probably informed Mary Elizabeth Braddon
's Joshua Haggard's Daughter (1877).
Textual Production
Mary Fortune
If MF
is indeed the author of either The Stolen Specimens or Traces of Crime, then she is, Lucy Sussex
argues, the earliest known female writer of detective fiction. Both stories pre-date the serialization...
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
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.
