Wicked Little Letters: Who Was Actually Writing the Letters? Explained

In the end, Edith complains about her noisy and disorderly neighbor, Rose, to the local child welfare agency. This action leads to a public scandal when Rose stands trial, causing quite a stir throughout their small town. As a result, Edith’s friends, including Gladys (Anjana Vasan), who is the only female police officer in the community, decide to investigate and uncover the true perpetrator behind these allegations.

Is Wicked Little Letters a real-life story?

The film draws heavily from real-life occurrences in Littlehampton from 1918 to 1923, yet it sometimes takes creative liberties. In truth, Rose and Edith were authentic individuals.

The tale begins in 1918, as Rose moved to the quaint coastal town of Littlehampton, located in Sussex. Prior to her marriage with Bill (Malachi Kirby) in 1921, Rose had given birth to Dorothy, her daughter, out of wedlock – a situation that was frowned upon in society at the time.

As I found myself growing closer to my neighbor Edith, we discovered shared passions in managing our homes. One day, I aided Edith with her bath by providing a tin one, and she generously shared a chutney recipe and offered me knitting patterns for socks. Yet, a disagreement over the care of our shared garden led to an unexpected souring of our friendship when Edith reacted strongly.

Beneath Rose’s alias, Edith commenced composing lewd postcards filled with crude language and groundless accusations. As reported by The Daily Mail during that period, the comments initially were as mild as “cow” and “damned,” but gradually grew more obscene.

Edith deceived Bert, her fiancé who was serving in the British Army in Iraq, by writing to him as if it were Rose. She falsely claimed to have gotten pregnant by someone else, implying that they would need to call off their wedding.

In September 1920, Edith, possibly struggling with mental health issues, initiated a private legal action against Rose. Rose was indicted for criminal slander, which she faced before the magistrates of Littlehampton. Rose spent three months in prison and then returned home afterward.

However, Edith remained resilient, sending more letters and ensuring Rose returned to court, suggesting their struggle wasn’t over yet. Attempting to vindicate Rose, her lawyer presented a handwritten chutney recipe and knitting instructions that Edith had given her, highlighting the resemblance between the writing and the letter handwriting as evidence.

However, Rose’s attorney was unable to prevent her 12-month imprisonment.

Who actually penned the letters?

After Rose received her second sentence, it wasn’t long before Edith’s network of deceit began to crumble. In response, she penned down more offensive words in a notebook and handed it over to the police. This happened while Rose was still serving her second sentence. Edith claimed that the notebook was found on a street near the Gooding family’s residence.

In my professional opinion, when I delved into examining the correspondence between myself and Rose, it seemed like an effort to strengthen my argument against her. However, quite unexpectedly, this endeavor of mine had an unintended consequence: the police spotted striking similarities in our handwriting, specifically between a letter I wrote and a notebook belonging to Rose. This revelation, rather than supporting my case, may have unveiled connections that could potentially complicate the situation further.

After serving her sentence for three months, Rose was released.

Scotland Yard assigned Inspector George Nicholls to investigate a libel matter following the discovery of the notebook incident. George enlisted Gladys, who often looked after sheds in the neighborhood, to monitor the Swans’ house. One day, while on duty, Gladys noticed Edith throwing a paper near Violet May’s back door. It was already known that Rose had issues with her neighbor, Violet.

In 1921, the judge presiding over Edith’s trial doubted that she was capable of employing such offensive language. It wasn’t until 1923 that investigators developed a strategy to gather enough evidence to convict Edith. The following year, when Edith committed another attack in June, the investigators managed to trace the postage stamps due to them being marked with invisible ink and instructing the post office to sell them to Edith. At Lewes Crown Court, the jury found Edith guilty in July.

In my own words, I find myself facing a 12-month imprisonment, as handed down by Judge Avory. This esteemed individual, who’s known for his wisdom, seemed perplexed by the fact that a woman like me, considered respectable and clean-spoken, could have penned such provocative work.