A Life's Secret

A Life's Secret



A Life’s Secret appears to be one of the fashionable bigamy novels, but later becomes an attack on what Wood saw as unscrupulous Trade Unionists. 


The serialization of A Life’s Secret led to a riot and the publisher’s offices were threatened with violence if they withheld the name of the unknown author. 

Wood’s secret was kept and the building escaped destruction, but A Life’s Secret was not published in book form in England for a further five years. However, the first book edition did appear in 1862 – in the United States. 

'Did I accuse you of it? Boy! you had better go and throw yourself into one of those gravel pits and die, than grow up to be deceitful,' she vehemently cried. 'Deceit has been the curse of my days. It has made me what I am; one whom the boys hoot after, and call----