Mary Elizabeth Braddon

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Mary Elizabeth Braddon, William Powell Frith , 1865

Mary Elizabeth Braddon (born October 4, 1837 in London , † February 4, 1915 in Richmond upon Thames ) was an English writer.

Life

Mary Elizabeth Braddon's parents divorced in 1840 when she was three years old. After receiving private lessons, she worked as an actress for three years to support her mother Fanny. When she was 10 years old, her brother Edward Braddon immigrated to India and later to Australia . In 1894 he became Premier of Tasmania .

In 1860 she met the publisher John Maxwell, who was married to an insane woman. Mary Elizabeth Braddon looked after their five children like a mother. With Maxwell she had six children, including the later writer William Babington Maxwell (1866-1938). In 1874, after Mrs. Maxwell's death, Mary Elizabeth Braddon was able to officially marry the publisher. Mary Elizabeth Braddon was a prolific writer. After her death, she was buried in Richmond Cemetery.

Works

Mary Elizabeth Braddon was one of the most popular writers in Victorian England. She was what is now called a bestselling author. Her subjects were predominantly crime and ghost stories, and social and adventure stories also came from her pen. Their popular stories, the sensational effects of which were presented in the context of well-thought-out actions, also earned respect from fellow writers such as William Makepeace Thackeray or George Bernard Shaw . Despite its enormous success, it is almost forgotten today. Some of her ghost stories can still be found in relevant anthologies.

Novels and short stories

  • The Octoroon (1861)
  • The Black Band (1861)
  • Lady Audley's Secret (1862); German Lady Audley's Secret, 1863; Newly translated in 2013 by Anja Marschall, published by Dryas Verlag. Dramatizations: WE Suter, 1863; CH Hazlewood, 1877; Film adaptations: USA 1912; USA 1915 (M. Farrum directed)
  • Aurora Floyd (1863)
  • Eleanor's Victory (1863)
  • Henry Dunbar : the Story of an Outcast (1864)
  • Circe (1867)
  • Dead-Sea Fruit (1868)
  • Fenton's Quest (1871)
  • At Chrighton Abbey (1871), German Chrighton Abbey, 1987
  • To the Bitter End (1872)
  • Publicans and Sinners (1873)
  • Lost For Love (1874)
  • Hostages to Fortune (1875)
  • An Open Verdict (1878)
  • The Cloven Foot (1879)
  • Vixen (1879)
  • Asphodel (1881)
  • Phantom Fortune (1883)
  • Ishmael . A Novel (1884)
  • Wyllard's Weird (1885), German Wyllard's miraculous ways, newly translated by Sebastian Vogel 2020
  • Cut by the County (1887)
  • The Fatal Three (1888)
  • One Life, One Love (1890)
  • The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1891)
  • The Venetians (1892)
  • The Christmas Hirelings (1894)
  • Sons of Fire (1895)
  • London Pride (1896)
  • Rough Justice (1898)
  • His Darling Sin (1899)
  • The Infidel (1900)
  • Dead Love Has Chains (1907)
  • During Her Majesty's Pleasure (1908)

Play

  • Griselda (1873)

literature

  • From Miss Braddon's literary career . In: The Gazebo . Issue 46, 1866, pp. 728 ( full text [ Wikisource ]).
  • Jennifer Carnell: The literary lives of Mary Elizabeth Braddon: a study of her life and workf . Sensation Press, Hastings 2000, ISBN 1-902580-02-8

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Braddon, Mary Elizabeth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 4, 1837
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH February 4, 1915
Place of death Richmond upon Thames