Born: 4 October 1835, United Kingdom
Died: 4 February 1915
Country most active: United Kingdom
Also known as: Mary Maxwell, Mrs. M.E. Maxwell, Mrs. John Maxwell, Mary Seyton
From Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company:
Mary Elizabeth Braddon, an English novelist, born in London. In 1860 she wrote a comedietta and the following year published some poems, but her success began in 1862 when she brought out her novel, Lady Audley’s Secret. It achieved instantaneous distinction, and an enormous sale, six editions being disposed of in as many weeks.
Miss Braddon introduced an innovation into popular fiction: hitherto, wickedness had been ugly – she endured it with grace and beauty. She invented a mystery of crime surrounded by everyday circumstances, yet avoiding the “detective novel” mechanism. Her plots, though sometimes forced, are ingenious and exciting, and her style and treatment in her later novels displayed artistic form and finish. Her Mohawk is in many respects a fine study of fashionable life in the time of Pope, Walpole and Chesterfield.
In thirty-five years Miss Braddon wrote more than sixty stories, several of which were successfully dramatized. In 1874 she married John Maxwell, a London publisher, and their son, W.B. Maxwell, has since become known as a clever novelist.