A Life’s Secret

Austin Clay, an orphan and builder’s apprentice from the small Midland town of Ketterford, suddenly finds himself out of a job and a home when his master and benefactor dies of a stroke and his widow sells the business. Austin decides to make his fortune in London.It helps that a chance encounter had led to him saving the life of one of the brothers who own a large London contracting firm, ’Hunter and Hunter’.Mr. Hunter had been mysteriously attacked whilst in Ketterford by a local madwoman, Miss Gwinn, who claimed the builder had ruined her life years before.Soon after Austin arrives in London and takes up a position at ’Hunter and Hunter’, Miss Gwinn follows him down, asking Austin to help her locate her ’enemy’. Clearly there is a deep secret from the past here, but what could it be?This mystery sits behind a story which focuses upon the agitations and privations that befall a small community of workers in conflict with their masters, the one side threatening a strike, the other a lock-out and the employment of replacement builders from abroad. In Wood’s mild yet conservatively partisan world, the Trade Unions are the undoubted villains, leading the men astray under the leadership of slovenly, self-interested orators such as Slippery Sam.It’s an easy, enjoyable enough read though, a typical piece of Dickens-lite 19th century fiction, with a reliance on unlikely coincidences to drive the plot, and an array of one-noted support characters to enliven and sweeten the mix. (Perry Whitford)About the Author Ellen Price (17 January 1814 - 10 February 1887), better known as Mrs. Henry Wood, was an English novelist. She is best remembered for her 1861 novel East Lynne. Many of her books sold well internationally and were widely read in the United States. In her time, she surpassed Charles Dickens in fame in Australia.Price was born in Worcester, on 17 January 1814. In 1836 she married Henry Wood, who worked in the banking and shipping trade in Dauphiné in the south of France, where they lived for 20 years. On the failure of Wood’s business, the family (including four children) returned to England and settled in Upper Norwood near London, where Ellen Wood turned to writing. This supported the family. Henry Wood died in 1866. She wrote over 30 novels, many of which (especially East Lynne) enjoyed remarkable popularity. Among the best known are Danesbury House, Oswald Cray, Mrs. Halliburton’s Troubles, The Channings, Lord Oakburn’s Daughters and The Shadow of Ashlydyat. Her writing tone would be described as 'conservative and Christian,' occasionally expressing religious rhetoric.In 1867, Wood purchased the English magazine Argosy, which had been founded by Alexander Strahan in 1865. She wrote much of the magazine herself, but other contributors included Hesba Stretton, Julia Kavanagh, Christina Rossetti, Sarah Doudney and Rosa Nouchette Carey. Wood continued as its editor until her death in 1887, when her son Charles Wood took over.Wood’s works were translated into many languages, including French and Russian. Leo Tolstoy, in a 9 March 1872 letter to his older brother Sergei, noted that he was 'reading Mrs. Wood’s wonderful novel In the Maze'. Wood wrote several works of supernatural fiction, including 'The Ghost' (1867) and the oft-anthologized 'Reality or Delusion?' (1868).She died of bronchitis. (wikipedia.org)