This novel is based on the true story of a scandalous Victorian divorce - which featured in its cast of characters a stuffy naval officer, his much younger and flirtatious wife, a series of handsome junior officers, and - oddly - an early feminist pioneer, who had been a close friend of the family, but who was called as a witness in the trial. The details of the trial are on the historical record, but not the details of the tangled personalities which led up to it; and it's these that Donoghue re-imagines for this book.

The trial itself takes up perhaps the last third of the book. It is gripping and exciting, and allows Donoghue to pull together all the threads of her themes - about how the same story can be narrated differently by the people who were involved in it, and the contrast between truth and justice (brilliantly highlighted in the chapter titles, which are all legal terminology, with both the 'normal' and the technical definition).

Unfortunately, the story that leads up to the trial is not so well-told - it's rather clunky, with too much telling and not enough showing (especially in the conversations where the two women are talking at cross-purposes), and it's a little bit too predictable. ( )

Why I picked this book: the title.

I liked this book - it had a good concept, well told story, and believable characters. What more can I ask for. In particular, the characters are very well done. I compare Helen Codrington in the Sealed Letter to Edna Pontellier in The Awakening. The character of Helen is much more believable which makes her easier to sympathize with.

If only I could find Victorian England more interesting. All those rules of society seem so silly and women lives have come so far since those days that the female characters don't seem pertinent to todays world. ( )

Donoghue's riveting historical novel is based on a actual English divorce case. Passionate, flighty Helen Codrington is unfaithful to her conventional husband with at least two men. She uses her close friend, feminist Emily "Fido" Faithfull, both to facilitate her affair and later to bolster her case when her husband sues for divorce. Nobody tells the truth during the trial, and the arguments and outcome are based more on the pieties of the time than on facts and fairness (that could never happen today, of course).

The book is an engrossing page-turner. The legal aspects are illuminating, but what really shines are the characters. This is my second Donoghue novel, and she really makes her characters breathe. Now I need to read her most popular book, Slammerkin. ( )

The Sealed Letter is another one of those books I just couldn't put down--and then felt bereft when I finally finished it. Set in London in 1864, the novel is loosely based on a scandalous divorce case, and features facts stranger than fiction: a stained dress (sound familiar?), fabricated evidence, and scandal more scandalous than the sensationalist novels of the period. It's a novel in which supposed friends turn against one another, in which servants even turn against those they serve.

Helen Codrington is a wife and mother, born and bred abroad, who craves some excitement in her life. Never thinking of what might happen, she embarks on an affair with Captain David Anderson. Late in the summer of 1864, Helen runs into her old friend Emily "Fido" Faithfull, a crusader for women's rights, who's surprisingly... conventional, all things considered. When Harry Codrington finds out about Helen's affair, however, the lives of these three characters change drastically. The novel's point of view vacillates between Helen, Fido, and Harry.

It's a stunning, well-written book, which explores the way in which lies affect the lives of each of these characters. It's also a fair representation of mid-Victorian mores; although it's tough for us today to understand, divorce was much, much more scandalous and socially crippling in an era that placed a focus on the family and the woman's role in that family. It's strange, too, to a modern reader, the laws that governed divorce in 19th century England (for example, the two primaries were prohibited from testifying). Each of the characters is well-written, and Donoghue gets into the minds of each of the main characters with ease. She never tries to infuse this book with a modern sensibility. It's a compelling book that I couldn't stop thinking about between sittings and after I'd finished.

My only problem with this otherwise superb novel is the fact that the letters are all written in a cursive script that's hard to read. But that's only a technicality. ( )

All of the characters, even the minor ones, were interesting and the story was fascinating. Highly recommended. Full review: http://www.canadianauthors.net/d/dono... ( )