In saying that, I did become a little frustrated with both ‘Fido’ and Harry being so gullible, especially when these two characters are supposed to have good intelligence and foresight and yet both are used by a character who appears, childlike in her selfishness, as though she needs to be treated with kid gloves and forgiven for her indiscretions and appeased when she has tantrums. Some reviewers have said they were disappointed by the ending but I loved it. There are two nice twists in the tail which I felt added much to the story and a lot of meaning to the undercurrent stuff. The author had some good points to make and it made me consider the old 'double standard' from an entirely new perspective, even amoung women and feminists. The early feminists had much to learn about what real equality meant, as arguably we still do today. Did we read the same book? I don't think so, because the book I read was dull as dull could be. The characters were not brought to life, the interactions were melodramatic and the story was tedious. I thought the most interesting part of this book was the author's note. Yes, the impeachment trial and apparently this divorce trial were both scandals, and they were ostensibly about sex, but if you dig deeper into both, you'll find that the sexual accusations were just an excuse for one person, or political party, to get rid of another person they didn't like.

It blows my mind to think about what this person who wrote the letter that we transcribed would think, if you could explain to him what we’ve done,” says Ghassaei. “It’s kind of unbelievable.”I'm not sure what attracted me to The Sealed Letter. It's a book that exists in that intersection among historical fiction, fiction "based on a true story," and relationship drama fuelled by larger issues of gender and individualism, the sort of book that can appeal to so many people yet go unnoticed because it looks "too historical" or "too much non-fiction" or "too romantic." When I started reading The Sealed Letter, I hoped for something good but didn't expect anything great. I was pleasantly surprised. I've been an admirer of Emma Donoghue's prose for a long time, enjoying both her contemporary and historical novels. This tale, based on a true story involving a sensational divorce trial in Victorian England, breezes along and is enjoyable in every way. As in real life, none of the three main characters is without fault, and none is completely to blame. I feel, though, given the talent of the writer, that the constraints she places by keeping fairly true to the original story make for slightly poorer fiction. I suppose I would like to have a slightly more satisfying conclusion and a slightly tighter bond with a main character.

An example of an intricately folded letter. This practice was common hundreds of years ago to prevent tampering. Scientists have figured out how to virtually unfold and read some of these letters without damaging them. They've used their noninvasive technique to read undelivered letters that have been stored unopened in a postmaster's trunk for over 300 years. YouTube Fido and Helen have not seen each other for 9 years. When they coincidentally bump into each other one day they decide to rekindle their friendship. However, Helen is hiding a secret. She is having an affair. She soon ropes Fido into helping her hide her secret, but when the secret eventually comes out, Helen's husband asks for divorce. The court case turns nasty, there is also a threat of a sealed letter which will be read, this reveals a truth no one wants to come to light. The story made me think about how many changes there have been to the role of women in society, the laws of divorce, for one thing, divorce was very new at the time and the awful treatment of the 'fallen woman' was really rather horrific compared to today's standards. When long lost friends Emily Faithfull (Fido) and Helen meet after years apart, Fido is at first delighted by their reunion, until she finds herself an unwitting accomplice in Helen’s affair. When Harry suspects Helen’s betrayal, he files for divorce. The trial brings up all kinds of salacious accusations on both sides, including attempted rape, neglect, cruelty, hints of lesbianism, and the mysterious sealed letter; the Victorian press and public had a field day!

Pica Range: Rimless

Gaaah, no, Helen is lying and manipulating you — as always. It’s Tegan and Sara’s ‘Boyfriend‘; it’s the straight girl relying on her lesbian friend’s feelings for her to get away with anything. It’s not a story I’m interested in, because it is one which is played out with boring regularity. What elevates The Sealed Letter above mediocrity is the three-dimensional way it portrays the people involved in this high-profile divorce. It is easy to set a divorce case in Victorian England in which the woman is the sympathetic character at the mercy of an uncaring husband. I found it hard to sympathize with Helen, who is both adulterous and manipulative, with sensibilities that radically change with her mood. Nevertheless, I understood her desire to remain a mother to her children (even if she was never very maternal) and repair the tear in her marriage that she—belatedly—realizes is her fault. They revealed the text, which was awesome. To do that without opening the letter is itself a sort of miracle, which I love," says Seales. "They were also complete about the technology of the artifact itself, because we can't forget that this stuff is embodied in physical form. And that's important." This book is based on the real life divorce case of Harry and Helen Codrington which scandalised Victorian England. I found the social commentary of Victorian life very interesting, where divorce was almost unheard of, wives and children were the property of husbands, and the women’s movement was in its infancy. Donoghue uses the scant historical source materials (court documents, newspaper reports and a handful of personal letters) to good effect and weaves them into a very human and thought provoking tale. There's no right and wrong or winners and losers in this, but lots of shades and shadows. Lies and hypocrisy abound especially during the trial. It certainly made me very grateful that I live in a time and a country of 'no fault' divorce and that our Family Law Court is there ostensibly to look after the welfare of the children involved.