"The Sealed Letter"

I've been trying to read some new authors recently, and while I was at the library last week, I picked up a couple of Emma Donoghue's books. I started with The Sealed Letter. 

The Sealed Letter centers on the Codrington divorce in 1864. Set in England, it's based on a true story, although some of the facts have been filled in by the imagination of the author. I can't summarize it any better than the inside leaf of the book does:

"Miss Emily "Fido" Faithfull is a "woman of business" and a spinster pioneer in the British women's movement, independent of mind but naively trusting of heart. Distracted from her cause by the sudden return of her once dear friend, the unhappily wed Helen Codrington, Fido is swept up in the intimate details of Helen's failing marriage to a stuffy admiral and her obsessive affair with a young army officer. What begins as a loyal effort to help a friend explodes into a courtroom drama that rivals the Clinton affair--complete with stained clothing, accusations of adultery, counterclaims of rape, and a mysterious sealed letter that could destroy more than one life."

Sound exciting? I thought so until I started reading. It started out interesting enough, with the story of Emily and Helen becoming acquainted once again and with Emily's discovery of Helen's affair. Emily tries to dissuade Helen from her army officer and Helen pretends to go along with it for a while, all the time continuing the affair. Emily finally agrees to help Helen, albeit reluctantly. One night, Helen sends a telegram to her husband claiming to be having dinner with Emily and her parents. When her husband responds with a message about their daughter being ill, and Helen doesn't show up for three hours, he becomes suspicious. 

I'll be honest. That's as far as I got. Emma Donoghue wrote The Sealed Letter in present tense with an omniscient narrator. In other words, the author knows what everyone is thinking and constantly switches back and forth between characters. It was quite confusing and after a while, I found it too boring to labor through the constant POV switches. So, I skipped ahead to the end. 

Captain Codrington, Helen's husband, ends up with custody of the children, and Helen ends up on the streets. (her lover has gone back to Scotland and gotten married, leaving her alone.) Helen comes to Emily to ask for money and takes everything Emily has readily available. Emily's reputation has been ruined by the sealed letter that Capt. Codrington produced as proof that Helen and Emily were "involved." Capt. Codrington sends Emily the sealed letter, telling her to open it if she wishes. She ends up opening it, right as the book ends. It's only a blank page. 

(By scanning through the middle, you read that the Captain's lawyers urged him to find something else they could pin on his wife. So, he creates a sealed letter from 7 years ago to use as proof. It's never opened during the trial, but is enough evidence for the Captain to win.)

All things considered, it's a halfway decent book, although I wouldn't read it again simply because of the style of writing (present tense, omniscient narrator). However, the characters are well written, and the setting seems to be historically accurate. If you don't mind the style of writing, I would recommend it.