‘Women are never lazy. They don’t know what it is to be quiet. They are Semiramides, and Cleopatras, and Joan of Arcs, Queen Elizabeths, and Catharine the Seconds . . . To call them the weaker sex is to utter a hideous mockery. They are the stronger sex, the nosier, the more persevering, the most self-assertive sex. ’The beautiful and innocent-seeming Lady Audley is uncovered in this stunning novel that combines a crime thriller with historical drama to create an unputdownable tale that has been perennially popular since its publication in 1862.