Charming and completely absorbing of a search for love through the sexual underbelly of London that...

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	• Tipping the Velvet: A Novel Sarah Waters Riverhead Trade, 2000 - 480 pages average customer review:based on 163 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

SUBVERSIVE, SHOCKING AND SINFULLY GOOD

This epic tale of one girl's pursuit of what she calls "desperate pleasures" in the arms of a series of archetypical women is deliciously subversive, sinfully entertaining and filled with explicit, shocking sex scenes -- but underneath it all, "Tipping the Velvet" is really a big, old-fashioned, kind-hearted and beautifully realized romance. Made up of equal parts picaresque, without the satire or irony, bildungsroman and historical fiction, the novel traces the travels and sentimental education of a late 19th-century English country girl who starts out shucking oysters and eventually makes it big in the city as part of a cross-dressing stage act before arriving at a moment of spiritual awakening and an epiphany of social awareness. Along the way, the narrative hits all of the romance genre's usual plot points -- early heartbreak, plenty of misunderstandings in the middle passage, a final reunion -- but in writer Sarah Waters's hands, "Tipping the Velvet" comes to life with vivid period details and achingly real emotions. You can almost taste those Whitstable oysters! And if you're not sure what sex act the title refers to, you'll find out soon enough!

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Charming and completely absorbing of a search for love through the sexual underbelly of London that meanders down many roads

Based on the cover I had always assumed this book was about lesbian strippers in the late 1800's. Well, I was wrong. It' actually more about-how to say it?-the kind of sexual underground of London. What wasn't seen by polite society or talked about-lesbians, rent boys (male prostitutes) women being kept by other women, cross dressing and plane of gay men.

Nancy Astley is a young girl working in her family's oyster house in Whitstable when her life is changed by an act at a nearby theater. The act is a woman named Kitty Butler who is a masher (a girl dressed as a boy) and Kitty brings about feelings that Nancy's never before experienced. Soon the two become friend and when Kitty's act garners more attention and moves to London, Nancy goes along as a dresser, now knowing the true nature of her love for Kitty.

But London life is anything but simple. Though happily Nancy discovers that her feelings are reciprocated by Kitty the others woman's caution and paranoia of discovery are quite at odds with Nancy's desires to love in the open. Things are only complicated when Walter, Kitty's agent who is quite in love with her, determines that Nancy, in gentleman's dress, is just the thing the act needs for success.

But things eventually change. Nancy finds herself in drastically different circumstances doing what she can to survive and exploring London's sexual underbelly. Can this once simple girl from Kent ever find what will make her happy-love that doesn't have to hide in the shadows?

This is an extremely good book but it's far different from the first novel I read by this author, "Affinity." Both are first person but that's were the similarity ends. Where "Affinity" alluded to sexual orientation and history of certain characters, "Tipping the Velvet" is explicit in the extreme. If you're not comfortable with very descriptive sexual descriptions of pretty much ever kind (all consensual though) of sexual act then this isn't the book for you. Even the title refers to-well, that's explained eventually.

Nancy is a charming narrator and character-just a girl trying to find her place in a world that isn't ready to except her as she really is. Overall this is a charming novel about a search for love that in the end crosses lines of sexual orientation and should appeal to a wide audience. While I can't say it's the best book I ever read, it is absorbing enough to read in two sittings and it certainly is in the list of books I would re-read.

Four stars.

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Great storytelling

Let's get right to it, shall we? This is one fine novel. Period. Regardless of the fact that it deals with lesbian society during the late 19th century doesn't mean that it will alienate everyone save its target audience, as gay novels sometimes tend to do. These characters are first and foremost 3 dimensional and they leap off the page at the reader and grab him by the throat (in a good way, of course). I wanted to become more familiar with every single one of them, including the loathsome Diana and her coven of sadistic sisters in Sappho. The story moves at a swift clip and just when the reader thinks he has it all figured out, there's a nice turn of events that both surprises and delights. Sarah Waters's ability to create a sense of time and place is truly admirable; the drudgery of Dickensian London coat the pages as did the saline tinged odors of a coastal fishing village As I previously stated, this is a novel for anyone who enjoys great storytelling, be you female, male, Lesbian or straight. Quality is quality, regardless of anything else. Pick it up, you'll really enjoy it.

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An engrossing tale

This is a lavishly beautiful story that draws the reader in and doesn't let go until the immensely satisfying end. Highly recommended for fans of lesbian erotica, and those who don't yet know that they are!

Tipping the Velvet

I loooooooove this book. Lush, daring, exquisite writing and gripping plot, honestly, this is one of the best stories you'll ever read and you don't have to be 'that way' inclined either. Loved the miniseries as well. Beautiful.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

This stunning and steamy debut chronicles the adventures of Nan King, a small-town girl at the turn of the century whose life takes a wild turn of its own when she follows a local music hall star to London...

"Glorious...a sexy, sinewy sojourn of a young woman in turn-of-the-century England."--The Boston Globe

"Erotic and absorbing...If lesbian fiction is to reach a wider readership, Waters is the person to carry the banner."--The New York Times Book Review

"Wonderful...a sensual experience that leaves the reader marveling at the author's craftsmanship, idiosyncrasy and sheer effort."--The San Francisco Chronicle

"Amazing....This is the lesbian novel we've all been waiting for."--Salon.com

"Compelling...Readers of all sexes and orientations should identify with this gutsy hero as she learns who she is and how to love."--Newsday

"Echoes of Tom Jones, Great Expectations...Waters's debut offers terrific entertainment: pulsating with highly charged (and explicitly presented) erotic heat."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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