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A review by notesfrommyday
The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue
3.0
The Sealed Letter was our latest book club pick for sew make believe. Our meeting to discuss it was on Wednesday and unfortunately I missed it due to an inopportune migraine which needed an early night to put in its place. I was quite disappointed to miss out on discussing this book though, as I felt it might have garnered some differing standpoints. I must admit that having chosen the book based on a very quick look at the blurb, I was worried that I had picked another book with no redeeming characters; our club seems to have become quite adept at finding books whose characters are most unlikeable! And I am sure that some of those that read this book might well feel the same way but I found myself really rooting for and feeling for Fido.
Fido is a woman working tirelessly for her beloved Cause - the cause of women's liberation. She was quite different to the other ladies of the day. Her conduct, her dress and her hard work all set her apart and I admired her as a character. Certainly, she was prudish and naive but I found this to be in keeping with her position and her experience. SHe thought herself to be more enlightened that she really was, at least by modern measures. Her weak spot, though, was to be her downfall, namely her friend Helen.
Helen appears again in her life in a chance meeting and before Fido knows it, Helen has embroiled her in her extra-marital affair with a rather hapless and unpleasant army officer. From the start, Helen takes advantage of her friend and uses Fido's fondness to manipulate her. As the affair is discovered by Helen's older husband, the ensuring divorce case - based on a real case reported in the Times in 1864. The legal position of Helen was disastrous as she stood to lose everything including the custody of her daughters by her infidelity, if it could be proven.
I found myself rattling through this book like I was reading a gossip magazine only with the stakes for these characters so much beyond any shame that could be suffered today. I think the real-life basis made it all the more compelling and I was so sad for Fido in particular who seemed to go through the most heart-ache and disgrace, despite not being at the centre of the divorce.
One of my only criticisms was that what should have been a dramatic unveiling of the contents of the eponymous sealed letter and the revelation by Fido (it read like it was a revelation at least) related to what had been implied as being in the letter was dampened by the fact that I had already figured it out. In fact, it seemed the only explanation to me as to why Fido would tolerate Helen at all.
Our next book club will be discussing the very popular teen fiction The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins so hopefully we will have a good discussion about those books - or at least the first one - in May.
Fido is a woman working tirelessly for her beloved Cause - the cause of women's liberation. She was quite different to the other ladies of the day. Her conduct, her dress and her hard work all set her apart and I admired her as a character. Certainly, she was prudish and naive but I found this to be in keeping with her position and her experience. SHe thought herself to be more enlightened that she really was, at least by modern measures. Her weak spot, though, was to be her downfall, namely her friend Helen.
Helen appears again in her life in a chance meeting and before Fido knows it, Helen has embroiled her in her extra-marital affair with a rather hapless and unpleasant army officer. From the start, Helen takes advantage of her friend and uses Fido's fondness to manipulate her. As the affair is discovered by Helen's older husband, the ensuring divorce case - based on a real case reported in the Times in 1864. The legal position of Helen was disastrous as she stood to lose everything including the custody of her daughters by her infidelity, if it could be proven.
I found myself rattling through this book like I was reading a gossip magazine only with the stakes for these characters so much beyond any shame that could be suffered today. I think the real-life basis made it all the more compelling and I was so sad for Fido in particular who seemed to go through the most heart-ache and disgrace, despite not being at the centre of the divorce.
One of my only criticisms was that what should have been a dramatic unveiling of the contents of the eponymous sealed letter and the revelation by Fido (it read like it was a revelation at least) related to what had been implied as being in the letter was dampened by the fact that I had already figured it out. In fact, it seemed the only explanation to me as to why Fido would tolerate Helen at all.
Our next book club will be discussing the very popular teen fiction The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins so hopefully we will have a good discussion about those books - or at least the first one - in May.