Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835–1915) was an English novelist of the Victorian era, best known for Lady Audley's Secret, published in 1862 and counted among the foundational works of sensation fiction. Her novels often focus on bigamous relationships, and titles such as Aurora Floyd and Henry Dunbar show her range across mystery and historical fiction. Before she made her name as a writer, she spent eight years as an actress to support herself and her mother, and she later edited and published the magazine Belgravia, which she founded in 1866.