My latest entry in Patti Abbott’s series of Forgotten Books is a slim volume, even when padded with a short introduction by Matthew Sweet, and an additional story called ‘The Mystery at Fernwood’. Nevertheless, The Lawyer’s Secret, by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, caught my eye at the week-end when I called in at that splendid bookshop, Blackwell’s of Oxford, and it proved to be a swift and rather entertaining read.
The story opens in truly classical fashion, with an enigmatic lawyer announcing the eccentric contents of a will to a young woman. Here are the first lines:
‘”It is the most provoking clause that was ever invented to annul the advantages of a testament,” said the lady.
“It is a condition which must be fulfilled, or you lose the fortune,” replied the gentleman.’
A good start, I think, and I enjoyed this story. It’s a ‘novella with a secret’ or perhaps an example of ‘sensation fiction’ rather than crime fiction in the modern sense. The mystery at the heart of the story is not really concealed with great art for very long. But the pace carries the reader along, and although I don’t claim this as a neglected masterpiece, I was glad I found it.
The story, and ‘The Mystery at Fernwood’, were both first published as long ago as 1861. Shortly after that, Braddon published Lady Audley’s Secret, which remains her most famous work. Hers was a long career – she wrote over 70 books and died in 1915. Not in the Wilkie Collins class, perhaps, but an author to be reckoned with.
Friday, 26 March 2010
Forgotten Book - The Lawyer's Secret
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7 comments:
Martin - Thanks, as always, for sharing. You always find the most interesting "forgotten books;" I really must brush up on my early classic crime fiction!
Something short but good would fit the bill for me right now! Thanks for the recommendation..I'll try to track it down.
Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
I never knew there were other book besides her famous one.
I'm thirty-three, almost a midway point in my life and I feel I haven't read anything! Someday, I'm going to go through all your posts and write down the books and check off the ones I read.
ann
This is off-topic, but here is a link to some things you might be interested in viewing (i.e., reviews of your books at a North American book review site where I am a contributor though I did not write the reviews of your books).
You can access the reviews of your books here at BookLoons.
1861! That's not just Forgotten, that's ancient.
Glad I've been able to interest you all in this obscure little number!
R.T. - many thanks for the link, which is much appreciated.
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