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Wyllard's Weird
A village in Cornwall is thrown into turmoil after a young girl falls from a train to her death. Was this an accident? Or murder? The mystery deepens when clues link the girl to a double homicide committed ten years earlier. Braddon's sensational novel takes us to the estates of aristocrats, the haunts of tabloid writers, the homes of Bohemian artists, and the dark alleyways of Paris. Braddon, one of Victorian England's best-selling novelists, is at the height of her powers in Wyllard's Weird. The novel shakes the foundations of 19th-century social order as it questions the sanctity of marriage and exposes the vices hidden beneath masks of gentility. First published in 1885, Wyllard's Weird has been for too long either out of print or available only in expensive facsimile editions. The novel holds an important place in literary history as it forecasts the appearance of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1886 and Sherlock Holmes in 1887.
376 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1885
12 people are currently reading
318 people want to read
About the author
Mary Elizabeth Braddon
1,062 books386 followersMary Elizabeth Braddon was a British Victorian era popular novelist. She was an extremely prolific writer, producing some 75 novels with very inventive plots. The most famous one is her first novel, Lady Audley's Secret (1862), which won her recognition and fortune as well. The novel has been in print ever since, and has been dramatised and filmed several times.
Braddon also founded Belgravia Magazine (1866), which presented readers with serialized sensation novels, poems, travel narratives, and biographies, as well as essays on fashion, history, science. She also edited Temple Bar Magazine. Braddon's legacy is tied to the Sensation Fiction of the 1860s.
She is also the mother of novelist W.B. Maxwell.
Braddon also founded Belgravia Magazine (1866), which presented readers with serialized sensation novels, poems, travel narratives, and biographies, as well as essays on fashion, history, science. She also edited Temple Bar Magazine. Braddon's legacy is tied to the Sensation Fiction of the 1860s.
She is also the mother of novelist W.B. Maxwell.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
July 24, 2020
To all the carefree youth who weren't born a century or two ago: I may not understand you, but I do want to be helpful. The "weird" in this book's title is a form of the word "wyrd" and so the definition is of course not from the modern usage, but the archaic one meaning "fate" or "destiny". And so the book is essentially titled Wyllard's Fate.
This goes a long way in explaining what some have found to be frustrating: it is very easy to figure out who the mysterious killer is. I don't think Braddon had much intention to make this that kind of a mystery, despite the identity of the killer being a problem that must be solved by the protagonist. And so this is not an actual whodunit; nor was Lady Audley's Secret. But the formidable antagonists of both novels have much in common, much that fascinate.
The novel features many characters but the central figure, the source of all the theorizing and contemplating and fantasizing and diagnosing and psychologizing (not a word), is the rich, cultured hunk known as Julian Wyllard, decidedly New Money, and the magistrate of a Cornwall village in which an unknown young lady has met her untimely death. There is a lovely, vaguely tragic Mrs. Wyllard, her careful and vaguely tragic former fiance Squire Heathcoate, Mrs. Wyllard's passionate and vaguely tragic cousin Bothwell, and the Squire's sister Hilda, who is also lovely although not quite tragic - but give her time. And there are some juicy supporting characters, especially a tragically decadent villainess who has nothing to do with the main plot but still provides the most sensations in this book - which is considered a "Victorian Sensation" novel. She's no Lady Audley, but she has a similar poison-confection appeal.
I do wish the central characters were as sensational. I liked this book overall and often loved it, at least when Braddon is illustrating a place and conveying an atmosphere and telling us how a character looks. She is excellent at evoking sensations - at making the reader's senses come alive when reading her plentiful descriptions. The book is set in various locales in Great Britain and France, and I felt every one of those locations, especially the Cornish countryside and bohemian Paris. Gorgeous atmosphere, evocative settings. And I certainly saw exactly how characters were dressed, understood why they were dressed that way, and what it meant about them. Enthralling stuff, eh? Well, kinda!
It's unfortunate that - except for weird Mr. Wyllard - the central characters are so dull, despite their admirable habit of walking around in interesting settings. They refuse to come alive except in the most insipid of ways. And so my enjoyment of the book was almost solely around the senses, and the occasional guest star popping up to make me smile. Braddon is very generous with the bit players and she makes the backdrop, at least, a compelling one.
This goes a long way in explaining what some have found to be frustrating: it is very easy to figure out who the mysterious killer is. I don't think Braddon had much intention to make this that kind of a mystery, despite the identity of the killer being a problem that must be solved by the protagonist. And so this is not an actual whodunit; nor was Lady Audley's Secret. But the formidable antagonists of both novels have much in common, much that fascinate.
The novel features many characters but the central figure, the source of all the theorizing and contemplating and fantasizing and diagnosing and psychologizing (not a word), is the rich, cultured hunk known as Julian Wyllard, decidedly New Money, and the magistrate of a Cornwall village in which an unknown young lady has met her untimely death. There is a lovely, vaguely tragic Mrs. Wyllard, her careful and vaguely tragic former fiance Squire Heathcoate, Mrs. Wyllard's passionate and vaguely tragic cousin Bothwell, and the Squire's sister Hilda, who is also lovely although not quite tragic - but give her time. And there are some juicy supporting characters, especially a tragically decadent villainess who has nothing to do with the main plot but still provides the most sensations in this book - which is considered a "Victorian Sensation" novel. She's no Lady Audley, but she has a similar poison-confection appeal.
I do wish the central characters were as sensational. I liked this book overall and often loved it, at least when Braddon is illustrating a place and conveying an atmosphere and telling us how a character looks. She is excellent at evoking sensations - at making the reader's senses come alive when reading her plentiful descriptions. The book is set in various locales in Great Britain and France, and I felt every one of those locations, especially the Cornish countryside and bohemian Paris. Gorgeous atmosphere, evocative settings. And I certainly saw exactly how characters were dressed, understood why they were dressed that way, and what it meant about them. Enthralling stuff, eh? Well, kinda!
It's unfortunate that - except for weird Mr. Wyllard - the central characters are so dull, despite their admirable habit of walking around in interesting settings. They refuse to come alive except in the most insipid of ways. And so my enjoyment of the book was almost solely around the senses, and the occasional guest star popping up to make me smile. Braddon is very generous with the bit players and she makes the backdrop, at least, a compelling one.
August 25, 2019
Wyllard's Weird is a lesser known sensation novel by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. I have liked her more famous work Lady Audley's Secret very much, so when it came my way as a group read, I was naturally very interested in reading it.
True to the genre, the novel was an outcome of an elemental combination of murder, mystery, duplicity, scandal, seduction and romance. And Mary Elizabeth Braddon had combined them cleverly and has produced one intriguing story.
The story is mainly concerned of a mystery of a young girl who dies as a result of falling from the train in motion. Was it a murder? Or was it a suicide? An amateur detective makes it his mission to unravel the mystery on request of an old love. The discoveries he makes leads him to a double murder committed ten years ago. Were they connected? If so, the same murderous hand has struck again. This murder-mystery part was very interesting. It was pretty easy to guess who the culprit was at an early stage, but this knowledge didn't hinder my enjoyment of the story. I was totally drawn to it.
Addition to the main story, there was a sub plot, very much connected to the main story, which nevertheless offers a story of its own. Here was a sweet and sentimental love triangle, a past seduction which leads to misunderstandings and broken hearts (which of course were finally mended!)
I really enjoyed this read. Mary Elizabeth Braddon has a dramatic writing style which is highly appropriate to the sensation genre, and which helped to create and maintain suspense, intrigue and interest. A mystery combined with a touch of romance always interest me. :) Wyllard's Weird gratified me by catering to my interest.
True to the genre, the novel was an outcome of an elemental combination of murder, mystery, duplicity, scandal, seduction and romance. And Mary Elizabeth Braddon had combined them cleverly and has produced one intriguing story.
The story is mainly concerned of a mystery of a young girl who dies as a result of falling from the train in motion. Was it a murder? Or was it a suicide? An amateur detective makes it his mission to unravel the mystery on request of an old love. The discoveries he makes leads him to a double murder committed ten years ago. Were they connected? If so, the same murderous hand has struck again. This murder-mystery part was very interesting. It was pretty easy to guess who the culprit was at an early stage, but this knowledge didn't hinder my enjoyment of the story. I was totally drawn to it.
Addition to the main story, there was a sub plot, very much connected to the main story, which nevertheless offers a story of its own. Here was a sweet and sentimental love triangle, a past seduction which leads to misunderstandings and broken hearts (which of course were finally mended!)
I really enjoyed this read. Mary Elizabeth Braddon has a dramatic writing style which is highly appropriate to the sensation genre, and which helped to create and maintain suspense, intrigue and interest. A mystery combined with a touch of romance always interest me. :) Wyllard's Weird gratified me by catering to my interest.
Read
January 25, 2019A very readable sensation novel, Mary Elizabeth Braddon on form. Somewhat odd in that the identity of the murderer is heavily signposted, if not klaxoned, from about 25% with the sole red herring being clearly marked as innocent and indeed but the pretence of it being a mystery is kept up and the ensuing plotlines are suitably dramatic. The usual dubious sexual politics obv which come to a head when the amateur detectives decide to forgive a triple murderer for his first two murders because his wife was seeing another man and that's just not on, and the third one because, you know, benefit of the doubt? he might not have meant to do it the third time?? and anyway, naturally he woudn't have wanted to be caught so mustn't grumble. An inadvertent illustration of the means by which men have been literally getting away with murder for ever.
August 19, 2015
About the book's title: "weird" is used here as an old word of Scottish origin meaning "a person's destiny".
This book is a Victorian "sensation novel" that focuses on the mysterious death of an unknown woman. She is witnessed falling to her death from a moving train that's travelling over a bridge. Was it an accident, a suicide, or a murder? Edward Heathcote, local coroner, takes it upon himself to find the truth, seeking to dispell the rumors of a family friend's part in the death. A quick read that was enjoyable.
This book is a Victorian "sensation novel" that focuses on the mysterious death of an unknown woman. She is witnessed falling to her death from a moving train that's travelling over a bridge. Was it an accident, a suicide, or a murder? Edward Heathcote, local coroner, takes it upon himself to find the truth, seeking to dispell the rumors of a family friend's part in the death. A quick read that was enjoyable.
August 24, 2019
This lesser known novel of Braddon's is just as good as Lady Audley's Secret to me, with some in-depth characterizations and plot twists. Even though the murderer is known to us long before he is confronted, the big reveal was very effective and dramatic. Quite a page turner, and well worth it.
September 3, 2019
I'm so glad I decided to read this book that I had never heard of until it was chosen as a moderator's pick in one of my reading groups. This was a great, compulsive read. From the first pages, there was action that drew me right into the story and didn't let up until I was fully immersed. The characterization was superb and had me guessing and then second guessing at the identity of the murderer. And even when I was fairly certain who the murderer was, the book was no less a page turner at that point as I wanted to know the hows and whys of what had happened. Along with the murder mystery, there was also an interesting subplot that furthered the development of some of the characters.
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September 23, 2015Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
Dear Dagny made its proofreading for Free Literature.
Dear Dagny made its proofreading for Free Literature.
January 1, 2017
”But there are those who think that a great irresistible love outweighs all scruples of honour or conscience.”
There’s nothing like a good sensation novel from time to time, especially if it was written by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, who not only had a way with words – this becomes obvious when you compare her rather crude early novels with the better-crafted later works – but also distinguished herself through a wry kind of humour which shows its deadpan face when you least expect it.
Wyllard’s Weird, which was published in three volumes in 1886, gives its mystery away already in the title – since “weird” means something like “destiny” – but that is neither here nor there because the novel will still hold a lot of interest for the reader. It begins with the brutal murder of a young woman, whose identity is unknown. The hapless lass is thrown out of a running train by a mysterious stranger – a cruel deed which casts its shadow over a Cornish village. Julian Wyllard, a rich landowner, who made his fortune as a stock jobber in Paris during the Second Empire, tries to clear matters up by employing a London detective but all he manages is to direct public suspicion on his wife’s favourite cousin, Bothwell Grahame, an aimless ex-soldier who will not account for why he was on that train when the young woman was killed. Wyllard’s wife Dora intends to whitewash her cousin’s blemished reputation by asking the village coroner Edward Heathcote to make further investigations into the case, and Heathcote is willing to do so, be it only to oblige Dora, the woman he was engaged to before Julian Wyllard chipped in. Heathcote’s inquiries lead him to Paris and to a gruesome double murder that took place a long time ago and to which the young girl was an involuntary witness. We follow Heathcote as he slowly unravels the truth and manages to find evidence for what he has suspected for quite some time, and as we follow him we meet all sorts of people, such as self-complacent French detectives, jaded society journalists, out-at-their-elbows seamstresses, old-fashioned German merchants, feckless would-be painters, or grief-stricken mothers, and we thoroughly enjoy the way Braddon brings to life all those various characters. There is, of course, a romantic subplot, featuring yet another love triangle with poor Bothwell Grahame between Edward’s sister Hilda and the treacherous femme fatale Lady Valeria but unfortunately this love story, while it is carefully linked with the murder case, often slows the plot down quite a bit. On the other hand, with Hilda we are given one of those Victorian heroines who have their feet firmly planted on the ground and who can manage their own lives – something that Dickens was never able to create.
All in all, Wyllard’s Weird will hardly disappoint you even though, like Edward Heathcote, you might be able to guess the identity of the murderer very early in the story. Edward Heathcote is yet another of Braddon’s unwilling investigators, i.e. somebody who is not awfully keen on unravelling the mystery but finally does so because he feels it his duty. To round off this review, I’ll give you some samples of Braddon’s enjoyable sense of humour:
There’s nothing like a good sensation novel from time to time, especially if it was written by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, who not only had a way with words – this becomes obvious when you compare her rather crude early novels with the better-crafted later works – but also distinguished herself through a wry kind of humour which shows its deadpan face when you least expect it.
Wyllard’s Weird, which was published in three volumes in 1886, gives its mystery away already in the title – since “weird” means something like “destiny” – but that is neither here nor there because the novel will still hold a lot of interest for the reader. It begins with the brutal murder of a young woman, whose identity is unknown. The hapless lass is thrown out of a running train by a mysterious stranger – a cruel deed which casts its shadow over a Cornish village. Julian Wyllard, a rich landowner, who made his fortune as a stock jobber in Paris during the Second Empire, tries to clear matters up by employing a London detective but all he manages is to direct public suspicion on his wife’s favourite cousin, Bothwell Grahame, an aimless ex-soldier who will not account for why he was on that train when the young woman was killed. Wyllard’s wife Dora intends to whitewash her cousin’s blemished reputation by asking the village coroner Edward Heathcote to make further investigations into the case, and Heathcote is willing to do so, be it only to oblige Dora, the woman he was engaged to before Julian Wyllard chipped in. Heathcote’s inquiries lead him to Paris and to a gruesome double murder that took place a long time ago and to which the young girl was an involuntary witness. We follow Heathcote as he slowly unravels the truth and manages to find evidence for what he has suspected for quite some time, and as we follow him we meet all sorts of people, such as self-complacent French detectives, jaded society journalists, out-at-their-elbows seamstresses, old-fashioned German merchants, feckless would-be painters, or grief-stricken mothers, and we thoroughly enjoy the way Braddon brings to life all those various characters. There is, of course, a romantic subplot, featuring yet another love triangle with poor Bothwell Grahame between Edward’s sister Hilda and the treacherous femme fatale Lady Valeria but unfortunately this love story, while it is carefully linked with the murder case, often slows the plot down quite a bit. On the other hand, with Hilda we are given one of those Victorian heroines who have their feet firmly planted on the ground and who can manage their own lives – something that Dickens was never able to create.
All in all, Wyllard’s Weird will hardly disappoint you even though, like Edward Heathcote, you might be able to guess the identity of the murderer very early in the story. Edward Heathcote is yet another of Braddon’s unwilling investigators, i.e. somebody who is not awfully keen on unravelling the mystery but finally does so because he feels it his duty. To round off this review, I’ll give you some samples of Braddon’s enjoyable sense of humour:
”Theresa Meyerstein, a curious specimen of the German Fräulein, intensely domestic, and yet deeply learned—a woman able to turn from Schopenhauer to strawberry jam, from Plato to plumpudding— a woman who knew every theory that had ever been started upon the mind and its functions, and who could tell to a hundredweight how much coal ought to be consumed in a gentleman’s household.
”But Lady Valeria was an agnostic. She had not even Satan as a friend in the hour of trouble.”
”He had run away with so many women in the course of the last twenty years that his manner of proposing the thing had become almost a formula.”
”The next day was wild and stormy—rain and wind, wind and rain—a gray sky, a heavy pall of cloud, through which the sun pierced not once in the long bleak day; one of those days which Nature keeps in stock for the funerals of our friends.”
”You may murder anybody you like in France, if you can show a sentimental motive for the crime […]”
”A woman always respects a man who can live without her.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2009
I loved this book because when I find a piece of literature like this that I didn't know existed it's exciting. It's a murder mystery that came before such things as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It has been out of print for many years and I love to see an old classic brought out of retirement I guess so that we can all enjoy quality books instead of having to choose between so many horrors on the shelf these days. I liked the characters, became invested in their concerns, and wanted to keep turning those pages until I discovered the conclusion.
Want to read
September 10, 2022"Weird" in the title is used in reference to an archaic word of Scottish origin meaning "a person's destiny". The title might thus instead have been Wyllard's Destiny.
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*Lady Audley's Secret 4 stars
*Wyllard's Weird TBR
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*Lady Audley's Secret 4 stars
*Wyllard's Weird TBR
August 5, 2022
This was a pretty decent Victorian melodrama-mystery in Braddon's characteristic style, but the edge was rather taken off it for me by the fact that I correctly guessed the culprit within the first two chapters, even before I knew what the motive was!
(Also, I got pretty impatient with yet another supposedly smart and spirited heroine falling for the old "you must refuse to marry him or you'll ruin his brilliant career" line—FROM A JEALOUS RIVAL.)
(Also, I got pretty impatient with yet another supposedly smart and spirited heroine falling for the old "you must refuse to marry him or you'll ruin his brilliant career" line—FROM A JEALOUS RIVAL.)
September 25, 2024
3.75⭐️
All the sensation novel tropes thrown in a big melodrama pot and simmered until done. Wylllard's Weird isn't as intense as Lady Audley's Secret or John Marchmont's Legacy (obvs), but it has a lot of merits.
All the sensation novel tropes thrown in a big melodrama pot and simmered until done. Wylllard's Weird isn't as intense as Lady Audley's Secret or John Marchmont's Legacy (obvs), but it has a lot of merits.
July 4, 2022
What an engrossing & charming read! You know the ‘mystery’ from almost the very beginning but you are still hooked till the very end. I love Braddon ♥️
June 25, 2012
It’s always a treat to find a book that is rarely seen in print. I happened to stumble on a copy of this novel a year ago and only recently had time enough to sit down and read. Braddon, who is most noted for Lady’s Audley’s Secret, was known for her sensationalist fiction much like Wilkie Collins.
Within the novel’s first pages, we are thrust right into the mystery: a young girl mysterious falls to her death from a train. Suicide? Or homicide? Those who were nearby or on the train are quickly questions, and inquiries are made as to whether this was intentional or an accident. To make matters worse, the girl’s identity is not known by anyone on the train or in the nearby area. As the town of Bodmin is up in arms over this horrible mystery and tragedy, an inquest is made, and one individual takes up the cause to not only figure out what happened, but to locate and find the girl’s family and discover her identity. To solve one mystery however, it seems you have to solve another mystery from the past.
What makes Wyllard’s Weird a signature sensationalist novel (and a treat to read) is not only the complicated and multi-layered plot and twists within the mystery, but the makeup of characters and their motives. Braddon takes some common conventions of the day and turns them on the head, and has a way of engaging you to the many puzzling circumstances of this strange case. Evasiveness, duplicity, secrets, grudges, gossip, head-strong individuals, scandals and what seems to be an unsolvable mystery all make up this novel. The investigation moves from Bodmin to the busy city of Paris, the scene of a murder many years ago, where the protagonist hopes to connect the past with the present.
While there are many aspects of this novel to like, if there was one negative, it was over the top melodrama and romance that are deeply imbedded within the plot. There are at least three love triangles from main characters to keep track of as the mystery unravels, and while one of these is critical to understanding the motive for the crime, some parts are excessively soap operaish. It is not uncommon for a character to profess love and break into a sobbing flow of tears at a moment’s notice. In a way, some scenes do bog the story down a little with trifles until we get back to the main mystery at hand.
Overall, however, I was pleased with this novel, as much for its mystery as Braddon’s narrative style. A rare gem here, often overlooked and difficult to find.
Within the novel’s first pages, we are thrust right into the mystery: a young girl mysterious falls to her death from a train. Suicide? Or homicide? Those who were nearby or on the train are quickly questions, and inquiries are made as to whether this was intentional or an accident. To make matters worse, the girl’s identity is not known by anyone on the train or in the nearby area. As the town of Bodmin is up in arms over this horrible mystery and tragedy, an inquest is made, and one individual takes up the cause to not only figure out what happened, but to locate and find the girl’s family and discover her identity. To solve one mystery however, it seems you have to solve another mystery from the past.
What makes Wyllard’s Weird a signature sensationalist novel (and a treat to read) is not only the complicated and multi-layered plot and twists within the mystery, but the makeup of characters and their motives. Braddon takes some common conventions of the day and turns them on the head, and has a way of engaging you to the many puzzling circumstances of this strange case. Evasiveness, duplicity, secrets, grudges, gossip, head-strong individuals, scandals and what seems to be an unsolvable mystery all make up this novel. The investigation moves from Bodmin to the busy city of Paris, the scene of a murder many years ago, where the protagonist hopes to connect the past with the present.
While there are many aspects of this novel to like, if there was one negative, it was over the top melodrama and romance that are deeply imbedded within the plot. There are at least three love triangles from main characters to keep track of as the mystery unravels, and while one of these is critical to understanding the motive for the crime, some parts are excessively soap operaish. It is not uncommon for a character to profess love and break into a sobbing flow of tears at a moment’s notice. In a way, some scenes do bog the story down a little with trifles until we get back to the main mystery at hand.
Overall, however, I was pleased with this novel, as much for its mystery as Braddon’s narrative style. A rare gem here, often overlooked and difficult to find.
November 12, 2016
Wyllard's Weird (a 19th century word meaning "destiny") is a novel of sensation fiction involving a cold case (an unsolved double homicide that took place 10 years prior to the action of the novel) a new murder mystery, two love triangles, and a lot of intrigue.
Sensation fiction is not about the crime itself - rather it is about secrets and how they come to light - so while it was fairly obvious who the criminal was, it was still interesting to see the story unfold. I also liked the interconnectedness of the characters and the fact that every loose end was tied up.
My main problem with this (and the only reason I didn't give it a 5 because I love Mary Elizabeth Braddon) was the suddenness of the ending. It was also fairly ambiguous whereas I wanted a straightforward happy ending.
Still, overall really great. My favorite parts were when Heathcoate tried to solve the double homicide from 10 years previously.
Sensation fiction is not about the crime itself - rather it is about secrets and how they come to light - so while it was fairly obvious who the criminal was, it was still interesting to see the story unfold. I also liked the interconnectedness of the characters and the fact that every loose end was tied up.
My main problem with this (and the only reason I didn't give it a 5 because I love Mary Elizabeth Braddon) was the suddenness of the ending. It was also fairly ambiguous whereas I wanted a straightforward happy ending.
Still, overall really great. My favorite parts were when Heathcoate tried to solve the double homicide from 10 years previously.
April 26, 2020
I've read "Wyllard's weird" twice and the second time I enjoyed it much more.
A brilliant mystery novel written by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, so absorbing even nowadays that I could hardly believe it had been written so long time ago.
The plot is based on the mysterious death of an unknown young girl who falls down from a train: is it an accident or something worse?
On the train were travelling a country gentleman called Julian Wyllard and his wife's cousin Bothwell, but not together. At the inquest Bothwell refuses to explain why he was on the train and all suspicions falls on him.
So Wyllard's wife Dora asks coroner Edward Heathcote, her former betrothed, to discover the dead girl's identity and expose the real murderer. Heathcote agrees and starts a detection that will lead him to France, on the trail of an old murder connected with the dead girl's mystery...
A real page-turning thriller.
A brilliant mystery novel written by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, so absorbing even nowadays that I could hardly believe it had been written so long time ago.
The plot is based on the mysterious death of an unknown young girl who falls down from a train: is it an accident or something worse?
On the train were travelling a country gentleman called Julian Wyllard and his wife's cousin Bothwell, but not together. At the inquest Bothwell refuses to explain why he was on the train and all suspicions falls on him.
So Wyllard's wife Dora asks coroner Edward Heathcote, her former betrothed, to discover the dead girl's identity and expose the real murderer. Heathcote agrees and starts a detection that will lead him to France, on the trail of an old murder connected with the dead girl's mystery...
A real page-turning thriller.
March 30, 2022
Wyllard’s Weird is another delightful read by Braddon. Mystery, murder, love triangles, interesting cultural details (first published in the late 1800’s), and more. Even though we guess the culprit at least halfway through, it is still a page turner to see all the inter-connectedness.
I have read 10 Mary Elizabeth Braddon novels in the last couple months, and am ready for more (she wrote around 75).
This was a free audio download from LibriVox.org.
I have read 10 Mary Elizabeth Braddon novels in the last couple months, and am ready for more (she wrote around 75).
This was a free audio download from LibriVox.org.
September 14, 2019
This was a great surprise-a mystery and love story set in 19th century Cornwall with side trips to Paris. Braddon was known for her "sensation" novels and this is a really enjoyable read, moving from the small towns and windswept coast of Cornwall to the streets of Paris and back. Braddon's characters are interesting and engaging and the mystery intrigues. This should be a better known novel than it is.
November 18, 2021
hmmm, second Braddon novel I've read and like the first one, it starts out great! Then the repetitive nature of inner dialogue makes me start rolling my eyes! If Braddon's novels were about 30% shorter I think I'd really enjoy them.
July 27, 2017
It's no Lady Audley's Secret but it wasn't bad. There is a lot of victim blaming though. And I wasn't very happy about the outcome of the investigation.
My edition was a LibriVox recording.
My edition was a LibriVox recording.
February 1, 2022
What a surprisingly good novel.
April 28, 2021
Every time I read or listen to an ME Braddon story I think “ now this is my favourite “. , well except “ the doctors wife ‘ which I didn’t finish. A story of murder, passionate love and goes from Cornwall to France and back again; great story and well read on LibriVox with a very experience Lynn Thompson
July 19, 2013
Mary Elizabeth Braddon's writing is wonderfully unique among 19th-Century writers. So many novels are pulled from the same cookie cutter, featuring virtually the same girl. She is golden-haired, innocent, accomplished, tender, and virtuous. She endures some trials which are nearly too much for her poor little heart, but with the strength born of her chaste love for her suitor, she bears her suffering and joyfully marries her love on the last page. Braddon's heroines have more life and depth than some other writers give women credit for even possessing.
Early women's movement
Life's hard
Braddon embraces what we'd be happier in denial about: that heartbreak cannot be avoided. A flawless, unblemished heart is for children who think that sweets and storybooks and playing in the grass is all there is in life. Learning that the human experience is full of beauty, but also of pain is part of growing up. It was the goal of the parents and guardians of young girls in this time to protect them and keep them sheltered from the slightest hurt or shock--and THAT is precisely why they faint all the time. (Not in this book, though. I was thrilled to get through the entire thing without anyone fainting.) Hilda faced her pain and decided how she would react to it on her own. She showed an independence (I want to say intelligence but I can't bring myself to do it) that is uncommon among her kind (Victorian literary heroines).
Scene descriptions
I complained in Mohawks about Braddon's insanely palaverous descriptions of setting. I stand by that. In that book, it was useless and inane. But in Wyllard's Weird, she's improved her skill. We walk into Louise Duprez's sitting room and her tidy little pieces of furniture and carefully pinned hair help us to understand her character. The same goes for every room in the story, in this work described with merciful economy.
Oh yeah, and the mystery...
This isn't a mystery novel you read to find out whodunit. Read any of the thousands of modern detective novels if you want suspense and riddles. Braddon lets us figure out for ourselves about halfway through the book who did it and doesn't insult us with an "Aha! It was HIM!!" moment in the narration. We know; she knows that we know... everyone knows. The story is about the relationships between the characters... and it's terrific.
Early women's movement
Life's hard
Braddon embraces what we'd be happier in denial about: that heartbreak cannot be avoided. A flawless, unblemished heart is for children who think that sweets and storybooks and playing in the grass is all there is in life. Learning that the human experience is full of beauty, but also of pain is part of growing up. It was the goal of the parents and guardians of young girls in this time to protect them and keep them sheltered from the slightest hurt or shock--and THAT is precisely why they faint all the time. (Not in this book, though. I was thrilled to get through the entire thing without anyone fainting.) Hilda faced her pain and decided how she would react to it on her own. She showed an independence (I want to say intelligence but I can't bring myself to do it) that is uncommon among her kind (Victorian literary heroines).
Scene descriptions
I complained in Mohawks about Braddon's insanely palaverous descriptions of setting. I stand by that. In that book, it was useless and inane. But in Wyllard's Weird, she's improved her skill. We walk into Louise Duprez's sitting room and her tidy little pieces of furniture and carefully pinned hair help us to understand her character. The same goes for every room in the story, in this work described with merciful economy.
Oh yeah, and the mystery...
This isn't a mystery novel you read to find out whodunit. Read any of the thousands of modern detective novels if you want suspense and riddles. Braddon lets us figure out for ourselves about halfway through the book who did it and doesn't insult us with an "Aha! It was HIM!!" moment in the narration. We know; she knows that we know... everyone knows. The story is about the relationships between the characters... and it's terrific.
August 26, 2016
"Let sleeping dogs lie."
When a young Frenchwoman is seen falling to her death from a train as it rounds a Devonshire hillside, the resulting investigation proves inconclusive until an amateur detective takes up the scent.
As always in these early mystery stories from the Victorian era which followed fast on the footsteps of Wilkie Collins, the answer to the present tragedy resides in the past, back to ten years previous and the murder of an actress and her lover in a Parisian wood.
Alas, as was also usually the case in such novels, the answer to the mystery is staring the reader square in the face throughout, despite the guilt attaching itself to an innocent party early on and a couple of lame attempts at misdirection later on.
Mary Elizabeth Braddon was renowned for writing Sensation Novels, the most famous of which was Lady Audley's Secret, which I had previously read. Despite being entirely preposterous it was well written and I really enjoyed.
This one started promisingly enough with a memorable opening scene, but lacking any suspense due to the glaringly obvious identity of the murderer it needed to be sufficiently engaging on other terms, especially as the story ran to nearly six hundred pages.
But where the over-ladled pathos of Lady Audley's Secret was enlivened with some spritely support characters and the author's own witty intrusions throughout, this was something of a leaden-footed borefest.
The principle subplot - involving an ex-soldier and suspect for the murder whose new love is threatened by an old love and his tainted reputation - was entirely uninteresting, and due to the shortfalls in the main plot it came increasingly to the forefront in the latter stages.
I didn't find any of the main characters interesting at all, although as with Lady Audley some of the support characters showed some promise, such as a vain Poirot-style French detective named Drubarde, but he was underused.
The dreary, unmerited length of such thin material can only be put down to a Trollope-esque 'paid by the word' quality resulting in repetition and tediousness.
When a young Frenchwoman is seen falling to her death from a train as it rounds a Devonshire hillside, the resulting investigation proves inconclusive until an amateur detective takes up the scent.
As always in these early mystery stories from the Victorian era which followed fast on the footsteps of Wilkie Collins, the answer to the present tragedy resides in the past, back to ten years previous and the murder of an actress and her lover in a Parisian wood.
Alas, as was also usually the case in such novels, the answer to the mystery is staring the reader square in the face throughout, despite the guilt attaching itself to an innocent party early on and a couple of lame attempts at misdirection later on.
Mary Elizabeth Braddon was renowned for writing Sensation Novels, the most famous of which was Lady Audley's Secret, which I had previously read. Despite being entirely preposterous it was well written and I really enjoyed.
This one started promisingly enough with a memorable opening scene, but lacking any suspense due to the glaringly obvious identity of the murderer it needed to be sufficiently engaging on other terms, especially as the story ran to nearly six hundred pages.
But where the over-ladled pathos of Lady Audley's Secret was enlivened with some spritely support characters and the author's own witty intrusions throughout, this was something of a leaden-footed borefest.
The principle subplot - involving an ex-soldier and suspect for the murder whose new love is threatened by an old love and his tainted reputation - was entirely uninteresting, and due to the shortfalls in the main plot it came increasingly to the forefront in the latter stages.
I didn't find any of the main characters interesting at all, although as with Lady Audley some of the support characters showed some promise, such as a vain Poirot-style French detective named Drubarde, but he was underused.
The dreary, unmerited length of such thin material can only be put down to a Trollope-esque 'paid by the word' quality resulting in repetition and tediousness.
March 29, 2009
A Victorian mystery from 1885, it's better than that description sounds. Half-way through I believe I guessed the solution, but it's still been worth reading.
June 9, 2016
Excellent whodunit.
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