The Fatal Three

by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

John Fausset persuades his wife that they should take his ward, Fay, under their roof. Their young daughter, Mildred, instantly takes Fay to her heart, but mystery surrounds the young girl: how is it that Fay, supposedly an heiress, arrives at the house with torn embroidery on her underlinen? What's the nature of her relationship with Mr. Fausset and why does his wife so resent her?

Genres: Classics, British Literature, Fiction

322 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1888

About the author

Mary 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.

Reviews

[Miriam]

I really loved this story of family drama and secrets.
Mildred, at the beginning of the novel, is just a child. Her father brings home an orphan girl named Faye to live with them, but Mildred's mother, thinking that she could be the product of her husband's infidelity, sends her away. Mildred, who had grown to love Faye as a sister, never hears of her for years.
Then, as a grown up woman and family mother, she discovers that her husband had had another wife before her of whom she knew nothing...
Typical Victorian intrigue, very naive maybe for our time, but really enjoyable.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Free download available at Project Gutenberg

[Marianna Kambani-Barroqueiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant read although quite predictable. Less sensational than other Braddon novels. Interesting handle of religious issues.

[Mbuye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike the usual MEB melodrama, although melodrama forms the outer wrapping, as it were, ‘The Fatal Three’ is a study of what even a minor epidemic could do in the days before antibiotics. The causes of that epidemic, despite all the care taken by a responsible landlord, and the havoc it creates in a small quasi-feudal village are grim enough; but when the landlord (also the squire) loses his own child as a result, the effect on his marriage is recorded with perception and sensitivity. The death of a child usually draws the parents closer, and if they are young enough, another infant compensates for the loss of the older child. But occasionally, it can drive them apart.

The subplot is enigmatic. It starts out very conventionally, and breaks off to give a new angle altogether to the entire prologue. Fay, the main focus of the subplot, has an intriguing character, which sets her apart from all the other stock figures of the novel. Her personality is so overpowering that even when she’s removed from the scene for nearly half the book, it is impossible to get her out of the mind. It is also the subplot that gives the clue to the title.

The melodrama underscores the stigma and secrecy attendant on irregular relationships, even when the law admitted of no other relationship. In other words, you were damned if you did, and damned if you didn't.

Finally, the novel deals with a subject raging furiously at the time: religion; of course, the larger issues of church and science, of faith and scepticism are not dealt with directly, but ecclesiastical dogma interfering in secular matters of law and the State is very much a part of the story. To a lesser degree, comes the difference between High and Low Church, or the Church of England vs congregational chapels, of fanatic bigotry versus a gentler liberalism, and in a lighter vein, of absentee vicars and sporting curates.

A rare and oop novel, but although MEB has churned out better stuff, her writing is as gripping, with her sly, wry wit running through it like Adriane’s thread.

[Sobriquet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite. It was a bit of a struggle for such a short novel. I never really warmed to any of the characters, for me they were under developed and not particularly sympathetic. There were some interesting domestic details, however the pacing was very uneven and as highly dramatic as some of the scenes were the story was dragged off into tangents. If this has not been a Victorian novel -and one which I had had some difficulty getting a copy of- I would have in all probability DNF'd it. I need to be more ruthless with classics I think, and especially with the more obscure titles. I'm just as likely to find a novel that is out of print for a reason as an undiscovered gem.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story that starts with the background of a wealthy family taking in a young teenage orphan girl who is a distant relation. Everyone in the home has their own way of reacting to this new-comer, with the young daughter of the family delighting in her companionship. The story takes us through a number of years, following the history of this family. Happy loves, questionable pasts, scoundrels, lovely travels, family secrets, lunacy, possible suicide or murder, strong moral characters and weak; all come together to draw us along. A big part of the story deals with a “religious scruple,” taught as God’s will, while admittedly not set down in the Bible, causing much heartache.

[Niki (nikilovestoread) · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is not among my favorites novels by one of my favorite authors, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, it was still an enjoyable read. It took me longer to read than any book in a very long time. (Even longer than War and Peace!) But that was more a reflection of how busy I've been lately. Really, I think this was the perfect book for my life right now. I could pick it up and read a bit here and there and never felt like my enjoyment of the story was suffering. Although there was the question of a death possibly being a murder, the story was more of a reflection of the time and religious scruples of Victorians than it was sensational fiction.

[Almonds&Apples · Rating 5 out of 5]

Celine Major is a wonderful narrator. Rating five stars.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not as “sensational” as some of Mrs Braddon’s other work this is nevertheless an enjoyable read. It deals with now outmoded marriage laws and also raises some interesting questions regarding moral and religious education, and in doing so Mrs Braddon comes off as far more enlightened than her fellow sensation novelist, the bigoted (and occasionally hypocritical) Mrs Henry Wood. Mrs B never takes a direct stance (unlike Mrs W who sometimes breaks the fourth wall and addresses her reader personally) but allows you to come to an informed, and hopefully enlightened, opinion.

[June Schwarz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was more predictable than any of the Braddon novels I've read. I disliked every character except Fay Fausset, whose story this ought to have been. How Braddon failed to realize this is beyond me.

[msleighm · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. 
 
Exquisite Victorian literature. Almost flawless. 
 
The "fatal three" referenced in the title were not at all what I was expecting - in terms of person place or thing.

[S. L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not my favorite of Braddon's, the characters are fascinating. I don't know what other reviewers mean by predictable; it's not a mystery. It's a rather grim tale of three different women and how their upbringing determines their fate.