Not going to reread. The characters just... bothered me.

Like many readers, I was blown away when I read Emma Donoghue’s Room back in 2011. Eager to see what else she had written, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of it was historical fiction (right up my alley!). I eagerly jumped into this one, but I can see that others may find it strange in comparison to Room.

Why? Well, let’s look at the similarities for starters – both novels are based on a factual event (although I wish that this had been made obvious at the start of The Sealed Letter). This book is a little less sensational for the modern reader as it’s based on a divorce trial in Victorian England, which is not so shocking. Donoghue does her best to make the reader see just how sensational a divorce was at the time by the cloak and dagger methods employed by the main character. Both Room and The Sealed Letter have strong women characters and the events and secrets are slowly, carefully revealed at just the right moment.

But the differences? The Sealed Letter’s Fido is a bit dim at times compared to Room’s Jack, despite her being an adult. She seems to be a complete sucker when it comes to Helen (her alleged best friend and soon to be divorcee). Helen dupes Fido over and over to spend time with her lover, whether using her (or her house!) as an alibi. Fido becomes entangled in the court case and soon her character is tainted.

The plot I found to be a little more uneven than Room, without the extreme dramatic moments (but to be fair, the subject matter is difficult to match). At times, the narrative was slow, Fido had her head in the sand and Helen continued using her. But I persevered and I found the courtroom scenes to be interesting as well as the juxtaposition between the strong and weak females, versus good or bad. Is it better to be ‘good’ and ‘weak’ or ostracised for being ‘bad’ and ‘strong’?

There’s as many questions left unanswered here as in Room, but given the basis on real life events, I was expecting this. The Sealed Letter will have you questioning intentions, morals and why our society shuns some over others.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com

Really wanted to like this, but it felt like a waste of time, made me miserable and I ended up dropping it around halfway through. Donoghue is a talented author but the characters she writes here are honestly dreadful to read about, much less actually be around. Do yourself a favor and hang out with somebody you enjoy instead.

I really enjoy Emma Donoghue's contemporary novels, but I'm less into the historical ones. This is a novel based on a historical divorce court case in 1864. The main trouble I had with this one is that none of the characters are very likeable. I was very interested to find in a chapter at the end that this was based on a true story, I'm all for historical fiction uncovering the gays/lesbians in history--but I feel like the author could have made the main character, Emily Faithfull, much more appealing without being untrue to the history. She describes her as having the face of a dog, for example! I mean, come on! Still it was interesting and if you like Sarah Waters, you should definitely read Emma Donoghue.

Ripped from the headlines: a sordid divorce case involving adultery, perjury and allegations of rape and homosexuality; however, the headline in question is dated 1865. Donoghue does a good job exposing the hypocrisy of the Victorian era without the reader feeling they are turning the pages of a text book.

So, so tedious. And again with the unlikable characters. The relationships among the characters were dealt with so superficially, but that could be because the characters were so hollow. And the climax was more of a hiccup.

This novel was a poor man's Jane Austen; it tried for subtle and was just flat.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as other books by Emma Donoghue that I've read. I guessed the big reveal at the end much earlier in the book than I would have liked to and I didn't like any of the characters--except maybe the allegedly horrible husband, which felt all wrong.

Jammer dat pas op het eind van het boek staat dat het voor een deel gebaseerd is op waar gebeurde feiten, misschien had ik het dan met een ander oog gelezen.

A real let down after "Room". I was very disappointed. I was a little baffled as to what motivated the author to write a novel based on the "scandalous" story from victorian society. I've seen more scandalous stories on an episode of Peppa Pig. I am sure that in its day, this story would have been something quite shocking, however there was no getting away from the fact that it isn't now and the author failed to convince the reader of the impact of this type of shame and dishonour. In a word, I'm afraid, dull.