Not bad. I loved Slammerkin and am looking forward to ROOM. I had high hopes for this, but it turned out to be mediocre historical fiction.

I really enjoyed this book. Loosely based on a famous Victorian divorce case. Story of love and betrayal between friends and a husband and wife. An easy read. I flew through it

Really didn't care for it and decided not to finish it. Interesting to know that this book is based on an actual Victorian divorce.

This book nearly bored me to tears. There was a short middle section of about 75 pages (out of nearly 300) that held my attention and made me want to keep reading, but overall it just put me to sleep.

If only I could give this 6 stars!

Just OK. Confession - I didn't even realize that the Emma Donoghue of "The Sealed Letter" and "Slammerkin" was the same Emma Donoghue who wrote "Room"! The first two books obviously belong to the same writer and genre. "Room" is a completely different story, setting, writing style....so I didn't even connect them - I somehow thought there must be two different Emmas!
The Sealed Letter is a novel based on a true story of a divorce case in Victorian England. As I pointed out in my review of "Room", I don't have a problem with writers basing works of fiction on items ripped from the headlines - of any era. In this case, I think I might have enjoyed reading a true life account better. I found Donoghue's writing, in this novel, flat and uninteresting. I wonder if she was not as interested in writing it as she first set out to be! The blurb on the front cover says it's a "deliciously wicked little romp". Gotta disagree with that. Delicious, no. A little sordid, yes. If someone in this book had seemed to be having fun, that might have been delicious. Maybe this should have been written in the voice of "Helen", the woman who is being divorced. She supplies the wickedness. She's selfish, manipulative, passionate - so she could have been a lot of fun as a character - that whole "root for the bad girl" thing. But she doesn't seem like she's having fun, except perhaps once. She's also, dare I say it, stupid. As for the romping, there's not much of it. Seriously, "The Forsyte Saga" has more sex in it than this does. As well as a depiction of Victorian England, written by someone who was there!
The other character I was really disappointed with was Emily "Fido" Faithfull. ("Fido"?! Really?!) She was, in real life & the novel, a leading light of the first wave of a "women's movement"; a reformer; a writer and editor and working woman in an age where women didn't Do That. Sounds great, right? In the novel she's prudish, fearful, stupid and can't figure out what's she doing from one moment to the next. I can't even believe in her as a character.
What would have been cool - for a third woman to show up for some naughty & fun sex scenes with Helen & perhaps Harry (the husband) too; said wicked woman would then drown Helen, Harry & Fido in the Thames. Good riddance.

This book was so boring. The characters were so flaky and dull, Fido (real name Emily) was supposed to be a strong woman in the ways of business however as soon as her friend comes into the picture her life's work just seems to be forgotten about as she gets trampled all over by her 'friend'. She was so easily manipulated and I can't see how you can describe a character as strong and independent with a good work ethic but then 20 pages later is being treated like a door mat and never goes into the office again?! It doesn't make sense!

Then we have Helen - the manipulator, wants what she wants and nobody will tell her otherwise. Is willing to manipulate her friends to get to her goal. Pretty much pinned as the villain from the start - so why are we supposed to route for this woman? Again - doesn't make sense! 

We then have the story - a woman who has an affair, her husband who files for a divorce (a big deal back in the 1800s) and the courtroom drama that ensues. After the disaster of the characters I would love to say that this can be overlooked by the amazing story - it can't. The plot is extremely dull, I really didn't care about this manipulative woman and the various different places that she would meet her lover. For me the book stretched on for far too long and the story quickly dragged.

I will say (there is one positive), I do think that the setting was really well described. If there is one thing that Donoghue does well its getting you in the setting, the story did really feel like it was set in 1800s London and I did enjoy reading these parts (basically the parts that didn't really involve the story or characters)

I wouldn't recommend this book, I found it really slow and the characters all really dull. However if you liked Frog Music (also by Donoghue) or The Miniaturist by Jesse Burton then I would say check this book out as there are similar vibes

This normally isn't my kind of book. I prefer reading about relationships that work, instead of ones that don't just fall apart but actually tear all interested parties to shreds. But Emma Donoghue manages to turn what looks like a sad and sordid drama into a living breathing story full of dimensions and shades of gray. No one, not even the deceitful Helen, can be the focus for all the blame.

Emily Faithful is a publisher printing magazines promoting women's rights in 19th Century London. She has been good friends with Helen, the wife of an Admiral, when they were in Malta and their relation has been interrupted when she has come back to London.

Helen finds Emily in London and their friendship is renewed. Helen informs her about her troubles with her husband and the bleak marriage they have been carrying on. Emily tries to help her friend but gets alarmed soon due to the improper relations she sees her friend having. While trying to promote braver actions within the sphere of Women's rights, she sees herself slowly dragged into a family affair which will not leave anyone involved unscathed.

Emma Donoghue has taken a real event from 19th Century England and has created a gripping tale out of it. The background given to us is really grim. Women do not have any right to property or even custody of their children in case of a divorce. The two sides do not appear in a divorce trial, which is carried out in proxy. Even women in the women's tights movement are wary of progressing very fast, since they could lose the tiny improvement they are accomplishing year by year.

The narrative is good and is reflective of the closed society in Victorian England and the book ends with an explosive finale. Heartily recommended.

Don't know whether to class this as non-fiction or not, it being inspired by true events and all that jazz!

No matter what, I absolutely loved this book. Its probably the law nerd in me that delighted with the fact that every chapter began with the explanation of a legal term or the excellent quotes - a favourite of mine is when Helen utters something to the effect of "that's absurd!" to which her solicitor replies "maybe in logic, but not in law!" - how TRUE!!!! :)