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Fingersmith Book

Fingersmith is the third slice of engrossing lesbian Victoriana from Sarah Waters. Although lighter and more melodramatic in tone than its predecessor Affinity, this hypnotic suspense novel is awash with all manner of gloomy Dickensian leitmotifs: pickpockets; orphans; grim prisons; lunatic asylums; "laughing villains" and, of course, "stolen fortunes and girls made out to be mad". Oliver Twist (which is mentioned on the opening page), The Woman in White and The Prince and the Pauper all exert an influence on it but none overawe. Like Peter Ackroyd, Waters has an uncanny gift for inventive reconstruction. Divided into three parts, the tale is narrated by two orphaned girls whose lives are inextricably linked. It begins in a grimy thieves kitchen in Borough, South London with 17-year-old orphan Susan Trinder. She has been raised by Mrs Sucksby, a cockney Ma Baker, in a household of fingersmiths (pickpockets), coiners and burglars. One evening Richard "Gentleman" Rivers, a handsome confidence man, arrives. He has an elaborate scheme to defraud Maud Lilly, a wealthy heiress. If Sue will help him she'll get a share of the "shine". Duly installed in the Lillys' country house as Maud's maid, Sue finds that her mistress is virtually a prisoner. Maud's eccentric Uncle Christopher, an obsessive collector of erotica (loosely modelled on Henry Spenser Ashbee) controls every aspect of her life. Slowly a curious intimacy develops between the two girls and as Gentleman's plans take shape, Sue begins to have doubts. The scheme is finally hatched but as Maud commences her narrative it suddenly becomes more than a tad difficult to tell quite who has double-crossed who. Waters' penchant for Byzantine plotting can get a bit exhausting but even at its densest moments--and remember this is smoggy London circa 1862--it remains mesmerising. A damning critique of Victorian moral and sexual hypocrisy, a gripping melodrama and a love story to boot, this book ingeniously reworks some truly classic themes.--Travis ElboroughRead More

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  • Amazon

    'We could pass anything, anything at all, at speeds which would astonish you'. Sue, orphaned at birth, is born among petty thieves - fingersmiths - in London's Borough. From the moment she draws breath, her fate is linked to another orphan, growing up in a gloomy mansion not too many miles away.

  • TheBookPeople

    Filled with suspense, Fingersmith is the third instalment of Dickensian drama and crime with an erotic twist from author Sarah Waters. A fascinatingly inventive reconstruction of Victorian England, Waters? tale is divided into three parts and narrated by two orphan girls, whose lives are inextricably linked. A story of a lesbian romance in Darwinian times when such desires were very much repressed, this novel is set amidst a beautifully crafted evocation of Victorian London that acts as a delightfully described backdrop to a thrilling and remarkable story.

  • Foyles

    Shortlisted for the Orange Prize (now the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction) and the Man Booker Prize London 1862. Sue Trinder, orphaned at birth, grows up among petty thieves - fingersmiths - under the rough but loving care of Mrs Sucksby and her 'family'. But from the moment she draws breath, Sue's fate is linked to that of another orphan growing up in a gloomy mansion not too many miles away.

  • Play

    London 1862. Sue Trinder orphaned at birth grows up among petty thieves - fingersmiths - under the rough but loving care of Mrs Sucksby and her 'family'. But from the moment she draws breath Sue's fate is linked to that of another orphan growing up in a gloomy mansion not too many miles away.

  • Blackwell

    * The Orange Prize short-listed, Booker Prize short-listed, critically adored, third novel from Sarah Waters - reissued in with a stunning new jacket London 1862. Sue Trinder, orphaned at birth, grows up among petty thieves - fingersmiths ...

  • BookDepository

    Fingersmith : Paperback : Little, Brown Book Group : 9781860498831 : : 26 Jun 2012 : * The Orange Prize short-listed, Booker Prize short-listed, critically adored, third novel from Sarah Waters - reissued in with a stunning new jacket

  • 1860498833
  • 9781860498831
  • Sarah Waters
  • 3 February 2003
  • Virago Press Ltd
  • Paperback (Book)
  • 560
  • New edition
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