A young girl whose love for her fiance continues even after her death; a sinister old lady with claw-like hands who cares little for the qualities of her companions provided they are young and full of life; and a haunted mirror that foretells of approaching death for those who gaze into its depths. These are just some of the haunting tales gathered together in this macabre collection of short stories. Reissued in the Tales of the Weird series and introduced by British Library curator Greg Buzwell, The Face in the Glass is the first selection of Mary Elizabeth Braddon's supernatural short stories to be widely available in more than 100 years. By turns curious, sinister, haunting and terrifying, each tale explores the dark shadows beyond the rational world.

Women are never lazy . . . To call them the weaker sex is to utter a hideous mockery. They are the stronger sex, the nosier, the more persevering, the most self-assertive sex. When the beautiful, child-like governess Lucy Graham marries widower Sir Michael Audley, Robert Audley gives his new aunt barely a thought. But when his friend George goes missing, he begins to suspect that Lucy Graham is not quite what she seems . . . The true nature of Lady Audley is uncovered in this stunning novel that combines a crime thriller with historical drama. An unputdownable tale that has been perennially popular since its publication in 1862.

'it only rests with yourself to become Lady Audley, and the mistress of Audley Court' When beautiful young Lucy Graham accepts the hand of Sir Michael Audley, her fortune and her future look secure. But Lady Audley's past is shrouded in mystery, and to Sir Michael's nephew Robert, she is not all that she seems. When his good friend George Talboys suddenly disappears, Robert is determined to find him, and to unearth the truth. His quest reveals a tangled story of lies and deception, crime and intrigue, whose sensational twists turn the conventional picture of Victorian womanhood on its head. Can Robert's darkest suspicions really be true? Lady Audley's Secret was an immediate bestseller, and readers have enjoyed its thrilling plot ever since its first publication in 1862. This new edition explores Braddon's portrait of her scheming heroine in the context of the nineteenth-century sensation novel and the lively, often hostile debates it provoked. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Aurora Floyd is one of the leading novels in the genre known as 'sensation fiction'-a tradition in which the key texts include Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White, Ellen Wood's East Lynne, and Dickens's Great Expectations. When Aurora Floyd was first published in serial form in 1862-63, Fraser's magazine asserted that "a book without a murder, a divorce, a seduction, or a bigamy, is not apparently considered either worth writing or reading; and a mystery and a secret are the chief qualifications of the modern novel." The novel depicts a heroine trapped in an abusive and adulterous marriage, and effectively dramatizes the extra-legal pressures which kept many such unhappy marriages out of the courts: fear of personal scandal, and of betraying one's family through the publicity and expense of the process. Aurora's bigamous marriage dramatizes the need for expeditious divorce without the enormous social cost, but the overt sexuality of the heroine shocked contemporary critics. "What is held up to us as the story of the feminine soul as it really exists underneath its conventional coverings, is a very fleshy and unlovely record," wrote Margaret Oliphant. Braddon's text is studded with references to contemporary events (the Crimean War, the Divorce Act of 1857) and the text has been carefully annotated for modern readers in this edition, which also includes a range of documents designed to help set the text in context.

Originally published in Robin Goodfellow magazine, Lady Audley's Secret is the essential work of Mary Elizabeth Braddon and is considered a staple of sensation fiction. The story centers on a mysterious woman, whose dark past slowly comes to light. Lady Audley is a former governess who marries the wealthy widower, Sir Michael Audley. She thoroughly enjoys the life of privilege and status associated with her new husband. Although she appears beautiful and polished, Lady Audley is more than meets the eye. She has a dark secret that could jeopardize everything she's worked for. To maintain her facade, she plots and schemes to silence those who threaten her happiness. Lady Audley will stop at nothing to maintain her comfortable lifestyle, including murder. Lady Audley is driven by desperation and fear. Her outlandish behavior leads to an unpredictable narrative taking the reader on a journey full of twists and turns. A combination of melodrama, crime and romance, Lady Audley's Secret is an extreme commentary on Victorian gender and class. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Lady Audley's Secret is both modern and readable.

Originally published in Robin Goodfellow magazine, Lady Audley's Secret is the essential work of Mary Elizabeth Braddon and is considered a staple of sensation fiction. The story centers on a mysterious woman, whose dark past slowly comes to light. Lady Audley is a former governess who marries the wealthy widower, Sir Michael Audley. She thoroughly enjoys the life of privilege and status associated with her new husband. Although she appears beautiful and polished, Lady Audley is more than meets the eye. She has a dark secret that could jeopardize everything she's worked for. To maintain her facade, she plots and schemes to silence those who threaten her happiness. Lady Audley will stop at nothing to maintain her comfortable lifestyle, including murder. Lady Audley is driven by desperation and fear. Her outlandish behavior leads to an unpredictable narrative taking the reader on a journey full of twists and turns. A combination of melodrama, crime and romance, Lady Audley's Secret is an extreme commentary on Victorian gender and class. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Lady Audley's Secret is both modern and readable.

The Penguin English Library Edition of Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon 'Lady Audley uttered a long, low, wailing cry, and threw up her arms above her head with a wild gesture of despair' In this outlandish, outrageous triumph of scandal fiction, a new Lady Audley arrives at the manor: young, beautiful - and very mysterious. Why does she behave so strangely? What, exactly, is the dark secret this seductive outsider carries with her? A huge success in the nineteenth century, the book's anti-heroine - with her good looks and hidden past - embodied perfectly the concerns of the Victorian age with morality and madness. The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

Lady Audley’s Secret epitomized the scandalous and irresistible "sensation" fiction of the period and established Braddon as the doyenne of the genre. Lady Audley, a beautiful woman with a mysterious past, serves as a commentary on the rise of the middle class and the consumer culture, and her fate reflects the public’s fascination with psychological theories about the nature of identity and the definition of madness.