Fingersmith

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Summary: Keep writing Sarah !!!!
Review: I have read all three of Sarah's books, starting with Tipping the Velvet then Affinity and this 3rd book, Fingersmith. WOW is all i can say. Gripping and twisting plots, unexpected turns in the story but very workable. Her gift of dscribing everything down to the stench of London streets and the poverty of the day , the villians, the asylums, the powerful thoughts of the characters is brilliant.No 220 page book for this writer, certainly value for money and great great reading !!!! Im waiting impatiently for her next book.Better still someone make a movie of these books, they are excellent.

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Summary: Wow!
Review: In a story of double-crossing thieves, Sarah Waters takes us back to dark Victorian London in FINGERSMITH, a beautifully written novel that is wonderfully intriguing, somewhat erotic, and kept this reader completely in suspense from cover to cover.

Two young women are orphaned early in life. Susan Trinder is raised by a band of thieves, calling Mrs. Sucksby the nearest thing to a mother she ever had. They live on Lant Street in the heart of the London Boroughs, a dark and impoverished area of the city. From Sue's window one has a good view of the hangings from Gaol, where she is told her birth mother was hung for murder. Her "friends" are Dainty and John Vroom and Mr. Ibbs, who all work and live together with Mrs. Sucksby and Sue, along with a number of babies that Mrs. Sucksby "farms" to make a living. Sue was one of those special babies at one time, but Mrs. Sucksby kept and raised Susan as her own daughter, protecting Sue from harm's way, and helps teach her the art of stealing and thievery.

Maud, on the other hand, lives with her Uncle Mr. Lilly in Briar, on a large estate in the countryside many hours away from London by carriage. She spends her days reading to her uncle and doing things that ladies in her station do - absolutely nothing. She takes walks outside on the estate; she takes tea in her room. She eats meals with her Uncle at the proper time. In other words, Maud's life was a totally different world from that of Sue Trinder's.

Back on Lant Street, a scam is being laid out. It is decided that Sue will masquerade as a maid for Miss Lilly, whose Uncle is a business associate of Richard Rivers, known to Sue and her friends as "Gentleman". Sue's role in this scam is to help secure a matrimonial match between Gentleman and Maud Lilly, who stands to inherit a fortune upon her wedding. Sue travels to Briar as Susan Smith with a totally made up identity, and works her way into the life of Maud Lilly, while Gentleman slowly woos his way into Maud's heart. Their plan is to declare Maud insane after she is wed to Gentleman. Then, Richard will take the money that is inherited by Maud, giving a few thousand pounds to Sue as a reward.

However, things do not go as planned. What ensues is a double-crossing upon double-crossing. Both women find themselves in situations they were not expecting, and soon both are trying their best to rectify things without losing their lives.

This is only a trace of what FINGERSMITH is all about. Besides the intricate plot and subplots that Sarah Waters creates surrounding the scam, Ms. Waters also writes a plot that is not all that it seems. Written from the viewpoint of both Maud and Sue, the reader receives a jolt of shock when it's time to read Part II, where the story is now told in the voice of Maud Lilly.

There are also the wonderful characters that are assembled in this dark Victorian drama. The two main characters, Maud and Sue, are of course the most integral part of the book, and their relationship while they are maid and mistress borders on erotica. Then you have the lunatic asylums, the relationship between the different members of Mrs. Sucksby's household, and life at Briar, the dark and old estate that brings to mind novels such as Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.

I thoroughly enjoyed FINGERSMITH. It was a great story with beautiful writing and characters that jump out at you as if you were watching a film. I plan on reading Waters other two novels, AFFINITY, and her first novel, TIPPING THE VELVET, soon. FINGERSMITH will definitely be on my list of top 20 books read in 2003.

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Summary: Gorgeous
Review: This novel is simply gorgeous. I was amazed at the beauty (and wickedness) of this novel; the sense of place draws you into the Victorian world better than Dickens. The characters will take you from the mean streets of London to a village madhouse and back again with your heart racing the entire way. This intriguing novel will have you up all night edging through the elegant prose to reach conclusion. But don't expect that these characters will leave when you close the pages, they're a little too real to let you get away that easy. You'll be pondering this gem of a novel for a long while.

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Summary: Compelling story---great writing!
Review: I just started this book today and I can't put it down. I can't believe I am rooting for the young heroine who is on her way to a country home to defraud another young woman. Everyone in the book so far is crooked--it will remind you immediately of Dickens. It is very well-crafted. Here is one of my favorite lines so far: "When Dainty heard that she pulled the pins from her hair and threw them at the fire. Some had hair still clinging to them and the flames set it hissing." Can't you just hear it? I plan to continue reading this book tonight until I can't keep my eyes open any more.

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Summary: Victorian Labyrinth of Love
Review: If Chubby Checker had collaborated with Abel Ferrara to come up with a Victorian thriller of a Bad Twistian nature, it still wouldn't top Sarah Waters' wonderfully engrossing third effort.

This riveting tale is intricately plotted and imaginatively paced to keep any reader continuously turning pages. Whether one's interest lies in the Victorian era or genteel erotica, or even gob-smackin' whodunits, FINGERSMITH is sure to please.

If you're fed up with the over-processed and over-marketed pap of today's 'chick lit' but still searching for women who can write incredibly well, and provide compelling women characters to be followed, then be sure to pick up FINGERSMITH.

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Summary: AMAZING!
Review: If I could give this book 10 stars, I would. This book combines all my favorite themes. If you liked the Wilke Collins classic, "The Woman in White," then you'll love this. Of all this book's many virtues, the most powerful is the incredible writing. Nothing is more satisfying to me than a well written book, rich with intense and complex characters, and an intersting plot. This book has it all, along with the best victorian foils of mistaken identity, villains, mad-houses, dark country estates, and London itself which give this book rich texture and detail. The love story is unique and gratifying. You will not be disappointed! I could not put this book down, and am forlorn now that it is finished. (I fear I shall never find another book so wonderful as this!)

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Summary: Strange Indeed
Review: When I received my copy of Fingersmith, I immediately started to read it. I made it to about chapter 4, then stopped for awhile. This book is one of the strangest things I've read in my life. It has some really wild plot twists and involves quite a few "controversial" themes. If you like reading modern Victorian literature or you enjoy stories by Charles Dickens, Fingersmith is a must-have for you.

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Summary: A very rare treat.
Review: I came to this book when a friend handed it to me saying, "It's by the foremost lesbian novelist in the world." Not exactly sure what to expect, based on that comment, I started reading. That characterization (which I've seen repeated in reviews) is unfair and does a great disservice to a wonderful novel, because it makes one believe that it promotes a viewpoint or that the story revolves around that narrow issue.

As to the story, it involves two orphans, a plot to deceive, arcane books, weird noblemen, machinations of all kinds, and in short, every gothic device imaginable. It has echoes of Dickens, Jane Eyre, and modern masters of the thriller. Don't let anyone tell you much about the plot ... I just envy you the experience of reading it.

It is very rare that I can find the time to finish a near 600 page book in under a week, but Fingersmith gave me little choice. It has wonderfully drawn characters, astounding plotting, and enough interesting elements to make you stay up way past when you want to. Go read it.

Rating:
Summary: Fingersmith
Review: What a wonderful book! If you like Victorian novels that twist and turn with wonderful prose, you will love this book. It is reminiscent of a Dickens novel with lots of plot twists, memorable characters, and atmospheric writing so vivid you will be looking for a scarf to protect yourself from the foggy London weather! Sarah Waters is one of the best of the new writers, and I've enjoyed all of her books. If you need an escape for a few hours, buy this riveting book and learn about the underworld of London in Victorian times.

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Summary: Full Of Twist and Turns....
Review: I think my head is still spinning. But wow!! What a book! I was intrigued from the first chapter and it just got better and better. Every time I thought I had a character figured out, something happened and I was proven wrong. This is a beautifully written story filled with mystery, love and betrayl.I loved every minute of it.