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The Sealed Letter
 
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The Sealed Letter (Hardcover)

by Emma Donoghue (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
US List Price: $26.00
UK Equivalent: £17.49
Price: £15.87 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £1.62 (9%)
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  • This item: The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P; 1 edition (22 Sep 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 015101549X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0151015498
  • Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 280,809 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #5 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > D > Donoghue, Emma

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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
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 (2)
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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning, beautifully written novel, 25 Sep 2008
By K. Huff (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
The Sealed Letter is 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 the 19th century (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.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant writing, 24 May 2009
This is a wonderfully realized account of a Victorian divorce case. The characters are all superbly drawn from meticulous research and the author's brilliant imagination, all set against the backdrop of the early campaign for womens' rights in the UK.
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