Their little squabble escalates when other members of their seaside English neighborhood start receiving obscene anonymous letters, too.
WasWicked Little Lettersbased on true events?
Were Edith Swan and Rose Gooding real people?
Credit:Sony Pictures Classics
What were some of the insults made in those lewd letters?
Here’s everything you oughta know about the real libel story behindWicked Little Letters.
Warning: This article contains spoilers forWicked Little Letters.
Olivia Colman as Edith Swan, Jessie Buckley as Rose Gooding in ‘Wicked Little Letters’.Sony Pictures Classics
Who were Edith Swan and Rose Gooding?
In 1920, Edith Swan and Rose Gooding were next-door neighborswho lived in Littlehampton, West Sussex, England.
Swan lived at home with her father Edward, brothers Stephen and Ernest, and her mother Mary Ann.
Jessie Buckley in ‘Wicked Little Letters’.Sony Pictures Classics
Like her mother, Swan was a stay-at-home laundress.
She also had a fiance serving in Iraq.
But the Goodings were known for being a rambunctious household, where arguments would often break out.
Jessie Buckley as Rose Gooding in ‘Wicked Little Letters’.Sony Pictures Classics
The whole neighborhood would be able to hear Rose spout foul-mouthed obscenities and insults at others.
Moreover, Rose and Ruth had numerous illegitimate children, which was frowned upon in Littlehampton.
Several fictionalized details from the film mostly involve omitting both parties' family members.
Olivia Colman as Edith Swan in ‘Wicked Little Letters’.Sony Pictures Classics
Edith is shown as an only child.
Additionally, Edith Swan and Rose Gooding were much younger than the film depicted them to be.
Gladys Moss, the first West Sussex Police Constable, was also of white British descent.
Anjana Vasan as Gladys Moss in ‘Wicked Little Letters’.Sony Pictures Classics
What really caused theWicked Little Lettersscandal?
At one point, Edith and Rose were good friends.
They shared items and recipes for each other to use, putting meaning behind “love thy neighbor.”
The Swans soon took issue with the Goodings' overflowing dustbins in their shared backdoor garden.
This then escalated when a dispute arose between Rose, Bill, and Ruth on Easter Sunday, 1920.
Once NSPCC came, they saw no evidence, and the report was dismissed.
Swan accused Gooding for penning the letter, thus starting her vicious cycle of slander.
The letters started off at the Swans with Edith and her brother Earnest receiving one.
The letters went to everyone who knew the Swans that being their entire Littlehampton seaside.
What was the libel scandal thatWicked Little Lettersis based on called?
Many referred to the Gooding vs. Swan libel case as the Littlehampton Letters.
If you were theDaily Mail, it’d be referred to asthe Seaside Mystery.
Pick your poison on the better title.
What were some of the insults from the letters?
How long did the scandal go on for?
The saga of the Littlehampton letters took place from 1920 and 1923.
After Rose Gooding was wrongfully convicted twice,it was Gladys Moss who caught Swan red-handed sending letters.
Once prosecuted, Swan was sentenced to 1-year imprisonment with hard labor.
Where to watchWicked Little Letters?
Wicked Little Lettersis currently streaming exclusively on Netflix.
