New Perspectives on Mary Elizabeth Braddon (Dqr Studies in Literature)

Mary Elizabeth Braddon, one of the most prolific authors of the Victorian period, remains best known for her sensation fiction, but over the course of a long career contributed to a multitude of literary genres, working as a journalist, short story writer and editor, as well as authoring more than eighty novels. This exciting new collection of essays reappraises Braddon's work and offers a series of new perspectives on her literary productions. The volume is divided into two parts: the first considers Braddon's seminal sensation novel, Lady Audley's Secret; the second examines some of her lesser known fiction, including her first published novel, The Trail of the Serpent, as well as some of her twentieth-century fiction. The first collection of essays on Braddon to appear since 1999, this volume sheds new light on the 'Queen of the circulating libraries'.