From the outset of Lady Audley’s Secret, the prevailing mood is one of intrigue. Braddon begins with some supernaturally-tinged and uncanny descriptions of the gorgeous geography her characters occupy. Quickly beginning to drop lots of hints and foreshadowing about what’s to come, Braddon leads her audience to feel curious and expectant. The reader feels confused and interested in the oddball cast of characters, especially the seemingly perfect Lucy and the unusual circumstances surrounding her marriage.
As the narrative unfolds and twists and deceptions amass, the mood becomes progressively more tense. With each chapter, Braddon provides more clues, sometimes leaving readers in states of confusion or unease. These perplexing and sometimes unsettling revelations intensify the reading experience. Intermingled with this tension are moments of profound sadness, like George Talboys’s early grief at the loss of his wife, or the discovery that Lieutenant Maldon is neglecting Georgey. As the weight of the despicable truth is revealed, the mood shifts, evoking deep pathos within readers.
Towards the end, when all the secrets are unraveling, the dour mood of the novel invites the reader to think about the morality of Lucy’s actions. Although her eventual confinement to a mental hospital seems like just deserts for her crimes, it’s also unclear just how much of her behavior was truly malevolent and how much was provoked by her circumstances. As the story reaches its resolution, these questions linger. They prompt Braddon's audience to think critically about the relationship between Lucy’s scheming and the difficulty of her early life and first marriage. Lady Audley’s Secret is fundamentally a novel about power, and the questions of the balance of that power leave Braddon’s reader feeling reflective and unresolved at its end.
