I don’t know how this novel by Emma Donoghue had passed me by, but the cover promises intrigue and I was fascinated by the little I could glean from the information given.
Set in 1864 this is the fictionalised story of a high-profile divorce case that apparently gripped Victorian England.
The story begins with a meeting between two old friends – Miss Emily “Fido” Faithfull and Helen Codrington. Somewhat unwittingly Emily becomes a pawn in Helen’s game as she continues her affair. Much is made throughout the novel of Helen’s ‘flightiness’ and the fact that she is not what people expect of a lady of this social standing. These two women are like fish out of water, but for what seems like very different reasons.
As the novel progresses we follow what quickly becomes a rather lurid story. Donoghue’s attention to historical detail seems meticulous, though at times I felt this interfered with the telling of the story.
By the end of the novel my feelings towards the three central characters had done something of an about-turn. Nobody really comes out of this well, but the sealed letter referred to in the title was a clever device that allows Donoghue to lay her characters bare in a way I wasn’t expecting.