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A poison pen letter (or poisoned pen letter [1]) is a letter or note containing unpleasant, abusive, or malicious statements or accusations about the recipient or a third party. It is usually sent anonymously, often by employing the ransom note effect to avoid exposing the author's handwriting.
Historian Emily Cockayne discusses the Littlehampton poison pen letters, the case that provided the historical basis for 'Wicked Little Letters'. Wicked Little Letters, a new film starring Olivia Colman, tells the story of a farcical and sinister scandal in a 1920s English seaside town. When Edith Swann (played by Olivia Colman) and fellow ...
Mar 10, 2020 · After five months of finger-pointing and recriminations, police in November 1923 arrested twenty-five year old Dorothy Myrtle Thurburn, daughter of artist Percy Cecil Thurburn and great-granddaughter of Roger Thurburn, who in the early Victorian era had been Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul in Egypt.
Jan 8, 2024 · In the early twentieth century one genre of anonymous letter became so prominent it was given a name: the “poison pen” letter. Coined in America, the term “poison pen” was first used in 1911 in a headline for an article in the Maryland Evening Post.
Feb 23, 2024 · After being framed by Edith Swan and falsely accused of writing the poison-pen letters, Rose Gooding was charged with libel and spent a total of six months in prison. She is portrayed by Jessie Buckley in the film.
May 23, 2024 · Poison pen letters are nasty anonymous letters which are intended to upset the addressee. They differ from blackmail, which is intended to extract something, in that they are purely malicious. A poison pen letter can elicit anger, fear, and a general feeling of upset from the person who receives it, much to the delight of the author.
Feb 6, 2016 · The term first appears in the UK in the 1930s and was in common use by the 1939 release of the film Poison Pen, and Agatha Christie employed a poison pen letter in The Moving Finger. Poison pen letters in the UK are covered by the Malicious Communications Act 1988.
