Name: The Sealed Letter
Rating: 3.444444444444445 (9 reviews)
ISBN: 9780547247762

Emma Donoghue

Emily "Fido" Faithfull, a spinster pioneer in the British women's movement, is distracted from her cause by the details of her friend's failing marriage and affair with a young army officer, in this drama of friends, lovers, and divorce, Victorian style. By the author of Slammerkin. Reprint.

The Sealed Letter

Based on the details of a scandalous divorce case that gripped England in 1864, The Sealed Letter is a provocative historical drama that is strangely relevant to modern issues surrounding women, marriage, rights and roles. Miss Emily "Fido" Faithfull is a "woman of business" and a spinster pioneer of the British women's movement, independent of mind but naively trusting of heart. Distracted from her beloved cause by the sudden return of her once-dear friend, the unhappily wed Helen Codrington, Fido is swept up in the intimate details of Helen's failing marriage to the stodgy Admiral Harry Codrington. What begins as a loyal effort to help a friend explodes into a courtroom drama more sensational than any Hollywood tabloid could invent--with stained clothing, accusations of adultery, counterclaims of rape and a mysterious letter that could destroy more than one life. HarperCollins is proud to deliver Emma Donoghue's internationally celebrated work into the hands of discerning fiction readers in this, her first Canadian publication. The Sealed Letter is the perfect book to mark this milestone event--a masterpiece that brings the force of a life that changed our world into captivating view.

Ada 

** spoiler alert **
           I gobbled this book up!! Not only is Donoghue’s style deliciously artistic whilst also comprising historical facts, but the character development is simply astonishing. The character build up is rather unusual in a good way, as it never ceases to deliver a new turn. At first glance the story seemed rather dull, but the way in which Helen’s grey morals keep the reader wondering who she really is turned this read into a 5 star one. By comparison, the final pages reveal a groundbreaking aspect about the relation between the two women that also impacts one’s view of Fido as a ‘virtuous’ woman with high morals (in the sense of the 19th century, of course). Instead of a linear development of the characters, we have one of the purest forms of portraying realism, which serves justice to a historical fiction. 
Overall this was a wonderfully written story that surprised me every other page. I cannot recommend this enough!

Emily "Fido" Faithfull, a spinster pioneer in the British women's movement, is distracted from her cause by the details of her friend's failing marriage and affair with a young army officer, in this drama of friends, lovers, and divorce, Victorian style. By the author of Slammerkin.

DNF on page 70.

I found this tedious, and after reading the reviews I assume there is no actual lesbian content. I was hoping this would be more like a Sarah Waters book, but I'm not enthralled in the story at all and I don't want to suffer through it for all the gay content to be subtextual and unrequited. No thank you.

Kathy Rodger 

Nadine 

Leah

Rose Stanley

Deborah Meades

Based on a scandalous divorce case that gripped England in 1864, THE SEALED LETTER is a riveting, provocative drama of friends, lovers, and divorce, Victorian style.

The Sealed Letter

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