Present Tense Book Review – Lady Audley’s Secret: Part 4

(Part Three of this Present Tense Book Review.)

Ok, so there is a bit of a twist at the end, and I didn’t see it coming; but still, as I whinged about in the last instalment, the end of this book sags badly. If the last 120 pages were condensed into 20 pages, it’d be great. As it is, it’s good. And interesting, as outlined in the ‘Case Notes’ at the end, by Robert Giddings, in its portrayal of women, and its feminist subtext. I won’t rehash his points here, suffice to say that he writes well and does a splendid job of placing the novel in context, and filling in some biographical detail. As, indeed, he has done with the other Atlantic ‘Crime Classics’.