East Lynne

East Lynne, or, The Earl's Daughter is an 1861 English sensation novel by Ellen Wood, writing as Mrs. Henry Wood. A Victorian-era bestseller, it is remembered chiefly for its elaborate and implausible plot centering on infidelity and double identities. There have been numerous stage and film adaptations.

The much-quoted line "Gone! And never called me mother!" (variant: "Dead! Dead! And never called me mother!") does not appear in the book; both variants come from later stage adaptations.

The book was originally serialised in The New Monthly Magazine between January 1860 and September 1861, and it was issued as a three-volume novel on 19 September 1861.

Lady Isabel Vane, a beautiful and refined young woman, is distraught when her beloved father dies suddenly. The earldom and all property are bequeathed to a distant relation, leaving Isabel homeless and penniless. With no other options, she marries hard-working lawyer Archibald Carlyle, who buys her former home, called East Lynne.

Carlyle's elder sister Cornelia comes to live at East Lynne. She hates the marriage and, by taking over the household, makes Isabel's life miserable. Carlyle, a kind man, had previously been friendly with a local lady, Barbara Hare, who had hoped to marry him. Suspicious of the relationship, Isabel leaves her husband and their infant children to elope with aristocratic but poor Captain Francis Levison. However, once abroad with Levison, Isabel realises he has no intention of marrying her even though she has borne their illegitimate child. He deserts her.

Isabel's cousin, Lord Mount Severn, visits her in Europe and offers to support her. She learns from him that her husband was not unfaithful. On her way back to England, there is a train accident, and Isabel's baby is killed and Isabel, badly injured, is reported dead. Isabel, in disguise and under a new name, takes the position of governess in the household of her former husband and his new wife (Barbara Hare), allowing her to be close to her children.

This situation becomes a source of great misery, however, as the little boy William dies of tuberculosis. Carlyle stands for Parliament, as does Sir Francis Levison, Isabel's seducer. It transpires that under the name Thorn, Levison had been guilty of the murder of a Mr. Hallijohn. But Richard Hare, the brother of Barbara, had been falsely accused of that murder and goes on the run.

When the facts eventually come to light, there is a dramatic trial involving Hallijohn's daughter Afy as a reluctant witness.