{"id":40798,"date":"2026-08-17T10:35:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T10:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/?p=40798"},"modified":"2026-07-03T16:54:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T16:54:15","slug":"the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"font-size: 17px;\">\r\n\r\nEmma Donoghue&#8217;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 &#8216;Fido&#8217; Faithfull, a real-life Victorian feminist pioneer, whose intense, lingering romantic obsession with her old friend Helen Codrington blindfolds her to Helen\u2019s manipulation, ultimately dragging her into a public court trial laced with contemporary legal accusations and historical implications of lesbianism.<\/p><p>In 1864 London, independent spinster Emily &#8216;Fido&#8217; Faithfull is a proud pioneer of the burgeoning British women&#8217;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\u2019s illicit heterosexual affair, only to find herself trapped in a web of deceit. When Helen\u2019s 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.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<div>\r\n<h2><\/h2>\r\n<h2>Details<\/h2>\r\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\r\n .TFtable<br \/> .TFtable td<br \/> \/*  Define the text for all the 2nd columns  *\/<br \/> .TFtable td:nth-child(2)<br \/><\/style>\r\n<table class=\"TFtable\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>ISBN: <\/strong>9781921942686<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Subtitle: <\/strong>A Novel<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Genre: <\/strong>Historical Fiction<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Subject(s): <\/strong>contemporary fiction (post c 1945); Divorce &#8211; Fiction; Fiction &#8211; General; Fiction &#8211; Historical; Historical Fiction; Triangles (Interpersonal relations) &#8211; Fiction<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Publication Date: <\/strong>2009-06-29<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Original Publication Date: <\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Publisher: <\/strong>Scribe Publications Pty Limited<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Language: <\/strong>English<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Format: <\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Pages: <\/strong>384<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Rating: <\/strong> <\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Notes: <\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><strong>Book_ID: <\/strong>107621<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gripping Victorian courtroom drama exploring a feminist&#8217;s repressed queer devotion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":40811,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4364],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-historical-fiction"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.9 (Yoast SEO v28.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Sealed Letter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gripping Victorian courtroom drama exploring a feminist&#039;s repressed queer devotion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gripping Victorian courtroom drama exploring a feminist&#039;s repressed queer devotion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesbian FunWorld Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-17T10:35:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SealedLetterEmmaDonoghue5446_f.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"329\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"NorthShore Noir Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"NorthShore Noir Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"NorthShore Noir Press\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47475bc37f43183328c7cf208b3d817f\"},\"headline\":\"The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-17T10:35:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":254,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/SealedLetterEmmaDonoghue5446_f.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Historical Fiction\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Sealed Letter\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/SealedLetterEmmaDonoghue5446_f.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-17T10:35:16+00:00\",\"description\":\"Gripping Victorian courtroom drama exploring a feminist's repressed queer devotion.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/SealedLetterEmmaDonoghue5446_f.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/SealedLetterEmmaDonoghue5446_f.jpg\",\"width\":329,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lesbian FunWorld Books\",\"description\":\"The Lesbian Literature Bibliography\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Lesbian Fun World Books\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/cropped-LFW-HDLogo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/cropped-LFW-HDLogo.jpg\",\"width\":1157,\"height\":598,\"caption\":\"Lesbian Fun World Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lesbianfunworld.com\\\/books\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47475bc37f43183328c7cf208b3d817f\",\"name\":\"NorthShore Noir Press\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a5ffb32eedf79f1cf201ae2e46198120d552a5a48e907f4d5c5e8d6087a83bba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a5ffb32eedf79f1cf201ae2e46198120d552a5a48e907f4d5c5e8d6087a83bba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a5ffb32eedf79f1cf201ae2e46198120d552a5a48e907f4d5c5e8d6087a83bba?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"NorthShore Noir Press\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Sealed Letter","description":"Gripping Victorian courtroom drama exploring a feminist's repressed queer devotion.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue","og_description":"Gripping Victorian courtroom drama exploring a feminist's repressed queer devotion.","og_url":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/","og_site_name":"Lesbian FunWorld Books","article_published_time":"2026-08-17T10:35:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":329,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SealedLetterEmmaDonoghue5446_f.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"NorthShore Noir Press","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"NorthShore Noir Press","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/"},"author":{"name":"NorthShore Noir Press","@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/#\/schema\/person\/47475bc37f43183328c7cf208b3d817f"},"headline":"The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue","datePublished":"2026-08-17T10:35:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/"},"wordCount":254,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SealedLetterEmmaDonoghue5446_f.jpg","articleSection":["Historical Fiction"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/","url":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/","name":"The Sealed Letter","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SealedLetterEmmaDonoghue5446_f.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-17T10:35:16+00:00","description":"Gripping Victorian courtroom drama exploring a feminist's repressed queer devotion.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SealedLetterEmmaDonoghue5446_f.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SealedLetterEmmaDonoghue5446_f.jpg","width":329,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/the-sealed-letter-by-emma-donoghue\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/","name":"Lesbian FunWorld Books","description":"The Lesbian Literature Bibliography","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/#organization","name":"Lesbian Fun World Books","url":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/cropped-LFW-HDLogo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/cropped-LFW-HDLogo.jpg","width":1157,"height":598,"caption":"Lesbian Fun World Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/#\/schema\/person\/47475bc37f43183328c7cf208b3d817f","name":"NorthShore Noir Press","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a5ffb32eedf79f1cf201ae2e46198120d552a5a48e907f4d5c5e8d6087a83bba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a5ffb32eedf79f1cf201ae2e46198120d552a5a48e907f4d5c5e8d6087a83bba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a5ffb32eedf79f1cf201ae2e46198120d552a5a48e907f4d5c5e8d6087a83bba?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"NorthShore Noir Press"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lesbianfunworld.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}