The Golden Calf — M.E. Braddon / Mary Elizabeth Braddon

The sweeping novel The Golden Calf combines the best of both worlds: a complex, unpredictable plot fraught with suspense and insightful social commentary that lends the book more heft and gravity than are found in many of Braddon's other works. A case of mistaken identity leads to a ill-begotten marriage, and well-meaning bride Ida Palliser finds herself plunged into a series of tragedies.