Tipping the Velvet

Rating:
Summary: "Tipping the velvet" was never so much fun!
Review: This novel was a glorious, stomach flipping journey into the life and career of a girl with a personality and passion like no other. From her days as a small-town hero-worshipper to her partnership with a musician, we follow Nat like we never want to lose her. This book appealed to my humanness as well as my sexuality. I felt every life-altering turn that Nat took as if I was living through it. my heart beat furiously from the beginning of the book to its comforting conclusion. I felt every decision she made and wanted to take her hand and tell her to come and live with me. I actually found myself wanting to jump into the book and join her on stage, and with Diana, and with Florence. This book is so beautifully crafted, I found it impossible to part with. Susan Waters has created such a masterpiece, that I found myself craving for life in the Gay 90s. Please, Miss Waters, keep them coming! A must-read for everyone, no matter what orientation!

Rating:
Summary: Incredible first novel
Review: I found myself riveted by this book. I first saw it while volunteering at the local library - then went out and bought myself a copy. The writing is luxurious and superb, the details are amazing. The characters are realistic, true to the period. All in all, I found this to be a fabulous piece of 'historical' fiction, and can hardly wait for Ms. Waters' next book.

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Summary: An amazing, picturesque tale
Review: Sarah Waters has painted a beautiful picture of the London music halls in the 1980s filled with the sights, sounds and slang of the day. It gave me a strong sense of place and the fact that it was a first novel only made this book even more incredible. My only complaint is that it was shelved in the "lesbian section." Although it can be said that this is technically correct because the charactors are largely lesbians, this book definitely deserves wider recognition.

Rating:
Summary: Hard to Put Down Any Way You Look At It
Review: Nan King is just the kind of selfish, willful character to live through such harrowing experiences. Great read (some typos, where was the editor?) and overall fun, exciting, wild ride. King's character comes dangerously close to my hate list, but redeems herself in the end.

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Summary: Tom Jones with a heart
Review: I have read two very,very good picaresque novels in my life and after Kate Vaiden and Huck Finn, there's Tom Jones, which is pretty good. Tipping the Velvet has the strength and earthy sensibility and observation of Twain, the poignant threads of Reynolds price plus--it's got some genuinely erotic bits, great style, history,panache and charm. It may cause straight women and men of all kinds to wish that they were lesbians (like the protagonist) but it is a book open to anyone literate. What a true Christmas pudding of a book.

Rating:
Summary: hetero dude gives thumbs up
Review: i got this book cuz salon.com said it was well written, true to the period, and slightly off the literary path. and i enjoyed the book, a lot. i did care for the protagonist; and didn't even mind the overly sappy ending. a note to people inclined to read this book because it's "lesbian fiction"... this novel is just plain old good fiction. give it a try.

Rating:
Summary: This is the worst book I have read in ages!
Review: I was really looking forward to this after reading the fine reviews this book has received from other readers. Unfortunately, this book has turned out to be the worst I have come across in a long time, and was extremely hard to finish. I had no sympathy for the main character, found her attitude towards other people callous and selfish, and did not care what happened to her next. I also found her "renting" period ridiculous and quite out of character for someone so resolutely butch. Give me a writer like Jeanette Winterson any day, at least the people in her books seem human! Don't bother.

Rating:
Summary: purrr...
Review: half of me is disappointed that this book was shelved as a "lesbian" book--and thereby limited to a shall-I-say gay-friendly readership--but the other half of me is selfishly delighted with the secrets revealed only to those who peek into it... If this is Waters' first novel, I can barely imagine the wonder that she will create in books to come.

Rating:
Summary: A book I have hungered for my whole life.
Review: At last a butch in print that isn't apologetic! Enough to make a fem swoon!

Rating:
Summary: A fun read
Review: I bought this book strictly on amazon.com's recommendation, and enjoyed it thoroughly. My only complaint? I'm not familiar with all the Victorian slang used throughout. While I could figure most of it out as I went along, some of it still eludes me. An aside or a quick clarification through some dialog would have been appreciated! However, it was a great first novel, and I would be interested in seeing what this writer does in the years to come.