Aurora Floyd

Mary Elizabeth Braddon followed the runaway success of Lady Audley’s Secret with this 1863 sensation novel, and it stirred nearly as much scandal. Aurora Floyd is the headstrong, dark-eyed daughter of a wealthy banker, adored by every man she meets but guarding a secret that could ruin her: a fifteen-month absence during her school years that she refuses to explain. She marries the steady John Mellish and settles into life on his country estate, until a former stable groom turns up and threatens to expose what she has hidden. Blackmail turns to murder, and suspicion falls squarely on Aurora. Braddon uses the plot to needle Victorian ideas about the dutiful wife and the fallen woman. Free PDF and EPUB editions are available here.