M. E. Braddon

Mary Elizabeth Braddon (4 October 1835 – 4 February 1915) was an English popular novelist of the Victorian era. She is best known for her 1862 novel Lady Audley's Secret, which is considered one of the foundational examples of sensation fiction. She is known for her focus on bigamous relationships in her novels, as well as her illegitimate marriage to John Maxwell.

Aside from writing, Braddon worked as an actress for eight years as a way to support herself and her mother. After establishing herself as a successful writer, she worked as a magazine editor and publisher. Braddon founded the magazine Belgravia in 1866.

The Mary Elizabeth Braddon Association was established in 2014 to pay tribute to Braddon's life and work. Various dramatisations have been made of her novels.

Early life and family

Mary Elizabeth Braddon was born the youngest of three children on 4 October 1835 in Soho, London. In 1840 her mother, Fanny (White) Braddon, left Braddon's father, Henry Braddon, due to his infidelities. Her brother, Edward Braddon, left for India in 1847. He eventually moved to Australia, where he became Premier of Tasmania. That same year her sister, Maggie Braddon, married Antonion Cartighoni and moved to Naples. Braddon and her mother moved to the English provinces in 1852, where she began a career in acting to support herself and her mother.

Acting

Between 1852 and 1860, Braddon worked as an actor. She travelled the provinces as an actress under the supervision of her mother. She acted in a variety of dramas, including Shakespearean plays, pantomimes, comedies, burlesques, and topical dramas about India and the Crimea. Braddon also took roles in well-known melodramas such as Black-Eyed Susan and Charles Reade's works, which would later be transformed into sensation novels. Despite her enthusiasm and dedication towards theatre, she gradually turned her focus towards writing novels due to a lack of leading roles and mixed performance reviews. Many of the roles she played were minor, yet profitable enough to support herself and her mother.