The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue

Emma Donoghue’s historical novel The Sealed Letter is based on the real-life 1864 Codrington divorce scandal and directly addresses lesbian themes, romantic infatuation, and same-sex attraction. The narrative centers on Emily ‘Fido’ Faithfull, a real-life Victorian feminist pioneer, whose intense, lingering romantic obsession with her old friend Helen Codrington blindfolds her to Helen’s manipulation, ultimately dragging her into a public court trial laced with contemporary legal accusations and historical implications of lesbianism.

In 1864 London, independent spinster Emily ‘Fido’ Faithfull is a proud pioneer of the burgeoning British women’s movement, dedicating her life to her printing press and the cause of female employment. Her structured world is thrown into chaos by the sudden re-emergence of her captivating, unhappily married friend, Helen Codrington. Sucked back into the orbit of her old infatuation, Fido naively allows her home to be used for Helen’s illicit heterosexual affair, only to find herself trapped in a web of deceit. When Helen’s husband files for a scandalous, high-profile divorce, Fido is dragged into the witness box, forcing her to choose between the friend she secretly loves, the feminist cause she champions, and the devastating truth hidden within a sealed letter.  


Details

ISBN: 9781921942686
Subtitle: A Novel
Genre: Historical Fiction
Subject(s): contemporary fiction (post c 1945); Divorce – Fiction; Fiction – General; Fiction – Historical; Historical Fiction; Triangles (Interpersonal relations) – Fiction
Publication Date: 2009-06-29
Original Publication Date:
Publisher: Scribe Publications Pty Limited
Language: English
Format:
Pages: 384
Rating:
Notes:
Book_ID: 107621