Born in London in England, Braddon was privately educated and worked as an actress for three years in order to able to support herself and her mother. She met John Maxwell, a publisher of periodicals, in 1860. However, Maxwell was married with five children and his wife was insane. She had acted as the stepmother of the children till 1874, when Maxwell's wife died, and they could get married. She had six children by him.
Ms. Braddon 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 dramatized and filmed several times.
She died on February 4, 1915 in Richmond, Surrey, England and is interred there in the Richmond Cemetery.
Partial bibliography: