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Affinity

3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 · rating details · 7,913 ratings · 595 reviews

An upper-class woman, recovering from a suicide attempt, visits the women's ward of Millbank prison as part of her rehabilitation. There she meets Selina, an enigmatic spiritualist-and becomes drawn into a twilight world of ghosts and shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions, until she is at last driven to concoct a desperate plot to secure Selina's freedom, and her o...more

Paperback, 352 pages

Published 2000 by Virago

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Oct 28, 2011 Wendy Darling rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of gothic literature, Edgar Allen Poe

Shelves: adult, victorian, gothic, uk, lgbt, historical-fiction, pn-ghosts, scared-the-crap-out-of-me, read-2011, psychological-thriller, deliciously-creepy

In reading the gothic psychological novel Affinity, it is nearly impossible to shake off an overwhelming feeling of gloom and pervasive dread. Following a failed suicide attempt, a young "lady visitor" named Margaret Prior develops a relationship with an inmate named Selina Dawes in a Victorian women's prison, and both their lives are forever changed by their acquaintance.

Narrated in alternating chapters by the two very different women, this dark, moody story incites fear, melancholy, and terrib...more In reading the gothic psychological novel Affinity, it is nearly impossible to shake off an overwhelming feeling of gloom and pervasive dread. Following a failed suicide attempt, a young "lady visitor" named Margaret Prior develops a relationship with an inmate named Selina Dawes in a Victorian women's prison, and both their lives are forever changed by their acquaintance.

Narrated in alternating chapters by the two very different women, this dark, moody story incites fear, melancholy, and terrible pity. As always, with this author's work comes a thoroughly researched story and a compelling look at women in oppressive circumstances, as well as how their limited choices often lead to desperate attempts to control their own destinies. There's also an erotic undercurrent of forbidden attraction running deep in this novel as Margaret finds herself increasingly drawn to the mysterious Selina Dawes, who has been imprisoned for a spiritualist reading gone horribly wrong. Their subtly blooming attraction is heightened by the misery of the contrast with Selina's living conditions at Millbank Prison (an actual London prison, by the way), and it's a certainty that in Margaret's desire to save Selina, she is also desperate to save herself.

And what will your sister do if her husband should die, and she should take another? Who will she fly to then, when she has crossed the spheres? For she will fly to someone, we will all fly to someone, we will all return to that piece of shining matter from which our souls are torn with another, two halves of the same. It may be that the husband your sister has now has that other soul, that has affinity with her soul--I hope it is. But it maybe the next man she takes, or it may be neither. It may be someone she would never think to look to on the earth, someone kept from her by some false boundary...

Sarah Waters writes in dense, elegant prose and tells stories that unfold with exquisite deliberation. Affinity is similar to The Little Stranger, in that there are such evocative, spine-chilling moments (including a particularly vivid one involving (view spoiler)) that I literally had to put the book down and step away from it. She masterfully creates an atmosphere of suffocating melancholy and builds the tension to an almost unbearable point, so that when the characters finally break, there is a blessed emotional release and relief in the confusion and madness that follows.

As with all of the authors' novels, it's important not to read too many reviews or interviews lest important surprises are spoiled. I've read enough of her books to know that I needed to pay attention to every word that is uttered, but she still kept me guessing until the devastating end. If you decide to read this, try to save it for a day when it's cold and dreary and drizzling; I did, and my imagination nearly went wild over the awful conditions of the prison, as well as the evocative seances I could picture perfectly in my mind. Affinity isn't the typical jump-out-of-the-closet horror novel, but for the reader who appreciates subtlety and who might feel a fine shiver when things don't feel quite right in the house, it can offer an incredibly suspenseful and terrifying read.(less)

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Oct 22, 2011 Tatiana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of quality women's fiction

Shelves: 2011, mysteries-thrillers-horror, historical, b

As seen on The Readventurer

It is almost impossible to say anything about the plot of Affinity without spoiling something, so I'll refrain from recapping. A wealthy, depressed old maid starts visiting a women's prison and quickly finds herself taken by an inmate, a young spiritualist - that's all you need to know.

Let's talk about feelings instead. This sense of emptiness and despair I am left with is so overwhelming right now, that it leads me to believe I might have liked Affinity even more than...more

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Dec 19, 2012 Inge rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: ghosts, god-have-mercy, fantasy

DNF 43%

I am sorry, Affinity, that we didn't work out. We both just want different things. It's not you, it's me. I'm just not in the right state of mind to read you right now. But someday, somewhere, you will make a reader fall in love with you, and you will make that person very happy. And that is what you deserve.

Go in peace now. I release you.

Finished it anyway

Nope, still don't get it.

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Jul 23, 2009 Chandra rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: anglophilia, favorites, historical-fiction, 2009-reads, mystery-dectective-crime

Another big winner from one of my favorite contemporary authors, Sarah Waters, and therefore highly recommended for fans of her other work (namely Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet). It's similar to those novels in that it takes place in Victorian era England and features a female protagonist and her spiritual/sexual awakening, but it is a wholly different sort of story.

Margaret Prior is an upper middle class woman grieving the recent death of her father. He was a scholar and indulged her inte...more

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Jun 05, 2007 Siria rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 21st-century, british-fiction, historical-fiction, queer-lit

Sarah Waters, at this stage, must be the accepted queen of Victorian Gothic lesbian melodrama; not, I imagine, that there is much competition for this title, but I think it's a deserved one nonetheless.

In many ways, the plot of Affinity is like that of the other work of Waters' that I have read, Fingersmith. Crime and Victorian punishment, repression and sexuality and psychology, all feature heavily in both books. Affinity, however, is a much more satisfying novel for me. While it, too, hangs on...more

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Nov 01, 2011 Blair rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ghostly-and-magical, historical, read-on-kindle

Set in the mid-1870s, Affinity is the story of lonely Margaret Prior. Nearing thirty, unmarried, and recovering from a series of difficult and upsetting events including the death of her beloved father, she takes up the duties of a 'lady visitor' at London's Millbank prison. Assigned to visit, speak with and offer companionship to the female prisoners, she finds herself developing a particular affection for one inmate - Selina Dawes, an alleged medium imprisoned for fraud and assault. At first,...more Set in the mid-1870s, Affinity is the story of lonely Margaret Prior. Nearing thirty, unmarried, and recovering from a series of difficult and upsetting events including the death of her beloved father, she takes up the duties of a 'lady visitor' at London's Millbank prison. Assigned to visit, speak with and offer companionship to the female prisoners, she finds herself developing a particular affection for one inmate - Selina Dawes, an alleged medium imprisoned for fraud and assault. At first, Margaret's visits are focused on exploring the unfamiliar environment of the prison and meeting the women incarcerated there, as a distraction from her dull and unhappy home life. However, as her friendship with Selina blossoms and she begins to feel increasingly alienated elsewhere, Millbank becomes the centre of Margaret's world, a growing obsession. Her diary makes up the majority of the narrative, intercut with extracts from Selina's earlier journal recounting the events that led to her imprisonment.

I have read two of Waters' other novels: Fingersmith and The Little Stranger. The latter is one of the best books I have ever read, and it was because of this that I felt compelled to try Affinity. The two have themes in common, with inexplicable paranormal events and the idea of spirit activity being central to the plot of both. However, Affinity has much more in common with Fingersmith: two female protagonists who take turns narrating the story, and a parade of unpleasant minor characters; a burgeoning lesbian romance, full of suppressed emotion and dull erotic charge; a heavy atmosphere of doom and dread; a series of dreary, depressing settings, from Millbank's cells to the foggy streets of London and Margaret's stifling home life with her unsympathetic mother. Like the heroines of Fingersmith, Margaret and Selina are both thoroughly trapped - Selina, obviously, by her imprisonment, and Margaret by the expectations of society and her family, as well as the illness she cannot name (depression). Treated with sedatives and opiates, which she becomes increasingly dependent upon as the story progresses, Margaret descends into a private, obsessive madness in which the mysteries of Selina's spirit world become very real to her. Selina, meanwhile, remains a more enigmatic character, with her journal conspicuously lacking in emotion.

Like The Little Stranger, Affinity has a revelatory ending, with a twist that casts everything that has come before in a different light. However, I have to say I did see this coming: although I didn't guess specifically what the twist would be, I felt (view spoiler). Maybe I was primed to anticipate a dramatic, unexpected development because of all the twists in the other Waters books I've read, but I wasn't really all that shocked when it came. I must admit that I didn't think (view spoiler)! The problem is that if you have your doubts about certain elements of the plot, it's fairly easy to work out the nature, if not the exact details, of the twist.

Strangely, this is the third book I have read with a medium (real or fake) as a central character, written by a female author of literary fiction, that I've found drab, dispiriting and bleak. (The others were Hilary Mantel's Beyond Black and, more recently, The Blue Book by A.L. Kennedy.) Perhaps a sign (how ironic) that this subject matter should be left alone in future? I do think Waters is a brilliant writer, and I can't fault her wonderfully authentic recreation of a Victorian narrative here. However, as much as the story was compelling and held my interest, it didn't come close to matching the page-turning intensity of Fingersmith, or the brilliant creeping tension of The Little Stranger. While it's worth reading, I wouldn't recommend this as a starting point for newcomers to the author's work.(less)

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Aug 18, 2008 Tara Calaby rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction, glbtq-focus, historical-fiction, own

I picked this up expecting it to be entertaining fluff like 'Tipping the Velvet', but I was actually far more impressed by this than I was by Waters' first novel. The protagonist here is far more likeable than Nan, in my opinion, and there is a darker feel to the book, due in part to it being set in a prison, but also due to the plot itself.

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Jan 21, 2012 Maggie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-for-challenges, gothic, ghost-spooky, favourites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is the second Sarah Waters book I have read and I find her a most intriguing author. Whilst the first book The Little Stranger dealt with the effects of a (?haunted) house on its inhabitants, this book explores spiritualism. Those descriptions don't do the books justice however, they are much more complex and multilayered than I have made them sound.

Affinity follows the story of Margaret Prior, a 'lady visitor' to a Victorian women's prison and her growing friendship / relationship with an...more This is the second Sarah Waters book I have read and I find her a most intriguing author. Whilst the first book The Little Stranger dealt with the effects of a (?haunted) house on its inhabitants, this book explores spiritualism. Those descriptions don't do the books justice however, they are much more complex and multilayered than I have made them sound.

Affinity follows the story of Margaret Prior, a 'lady visitor' to a Victorian women's prison and her growing friendship / relationship with an inmate, Selina Dawes, accused of violence and spiritualism. The author gradually draws the reader into the other layers in this story, and we see the resemblance between the two women's lives, the incarceration of both, one in prison and the other in her family. The doubts cast by society over the validity of spiritualism and the doubts in Margaret's family of her sanity.

The question of the authenticity of spiritualism is addressed - can Selina Dawes really transport items from prison to the home? The methods employed by spiritualists are 'exposed' and hinted at, giving the reader pause to consider whether Selina Dawes has any skills at all or is she a charlatan preying on the vulnerable? How much of what is occuring is due to the mental state of Margaret Prior - is she imagining things? Her fragile mental state requiring frequent heavy doses of medication, and previous suicide attempt, point the reader to question much about her thinking. And yet all the while it is quite believable that there is something other-worldly occuring.

The developing affection is well described, never becoming taudry, but is rather shown to be a natural progression, especially for Margaret, whose previous lover is now married to her brother (awkward).

Sarah Waters draws the reader in to the atmosphere of the prison to such an extent that I have a clear image in my mind of its sights, sounds and smells, and I can clearly 'see' the prison guards too.

This book is highly recommended for those who like to think whilst they read.(less)

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Feb 22, 2009 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, historical-fiction, fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 13, 2012 Bonnie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: gothic, read-in-2012, adult, literary-fiction

Fabulous. Sarah Waters can really tell a story.

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Jul 30, 2011 Ruthiella rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

Took me a few pages to get my orientation, but then I was off and really could not put this book down. Sensitive, intellectual Margaret, still mourning the loss of her father and living with her overbearing mother, becomes a volunteer “Lady Visitor” on the women’s ward of a 19th century London prison. As a Lady Visitor, Margaret’s purpose is to help rehabilitate the prisoners by setting a ladylike example. Among the thieves and prostitutes, Margaret finds herself drawn to one inmate in particula...more

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Oct 17, 2009 Anastasia rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Generally, I don't pick up random books at Barnes and Noble that I don't already know a little about. However, I made an exception with Affinity because it intrigued me so. I come to find out that was a pretty costly mistake.

Firstly, the book dabbles in the supernatural psychics world which I already hold a serious distrust for. However, I thought this book might present the spiritual medium's world in a light that's a little more pretty and entertaining. No, instead I still feel oddly at ends...more Generally, I don't pick up random books at Barnes and Noble that I don't already know a little about. However, I made an exception with Affinity because it intrigued me so. I come to find out that was a pretty costly mistake.

Firstly, the book dabbles in the supernatural psychics world which I already hold a serious distrust for. However, I thought this book might present the spiritual medium's world in a light that's a little more pretty and entertaining. No, instead I still feel oddly at ends with the character Selina, who is a medium in jail for a crime relating to her seances. This distrust grows and grows until the climax of the book where it tops off as disdain, ending with me disgusted with the main character a delicate woman by the name of Margaret.

Secondly, I disapprove of the frailty of women back before the turn of the century. This book is entirely devoted to a main character who can't deal with situations with a level head or a rational outlook. Instead she is swayed by every emotion possible, sometimes resorting to drugs to deal with her "horrible headaches." She faints at every instance, "feels ill" any time there's confrontation and tends to side with her romantic view of people which ends up costing her dearly. I disapprove of her melancholy methods of dealing with her grief and I also disapprove of her inability to assert herself or read people truthfully.

Thirdly, the book is developed slowly and very wordy. Pages are drawn out in a way that's neither enticing or beautiful, but more lengthy and boring. I felt as if I was pushing over words to get the point towards the end of the book. The character's a built for chapters and chapters, and I disapproved of the somewhat lesbian relationship that developed, not because it consisted of two females but because it was stupid and based on nothing substantial. Margaret needed SOMETHING to cling to and it ends up being an incredibly stupid thing for her to do. More proof that delicate, unsteady women prove to be dumb in the end.

On a nicer note, I awarded this book two stars because it DID catch my attention towards the end after the climax. Although I already knew the ending because I could read through the character's emotions straight to the facts and the proper villains. I was frantically turning pages at the end hoping to get to the final conclusion, proof that my speculations were correct. As they were. (less)

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Oct 14, 2008 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, queer-fiction, favorite-authors, england

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 12, 2007 Brooke rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, general-fiction

Affinity is the story of Margaret, a young woman in Victorian era England, who attempts to commit suicide after her father dies. As part of her recovery, she becomes a "Lady Visitor" at a women's prison, an upper-class role model for the prisoners to look up to and emulate. She and one of the prisoners, Selina Dawes, end up falling for each other. Margaret spends her time away from her researching Selina's life and the crime that landed her in prison.

Much of the book is spent on the supernatural...more

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Sep 30, 2010 Suzanne rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Adults

I never read anything 'Victorian', or 'turn-of-the-century' anywhere, but I bought this because of the cover and because of the Author and...

Hiding out from the heat yesterday, I opened it, and did not put it down until 1 o'clock this morning when it was finished...

Mesmerizing, in a quietly draw-you-in, now-you-can't-stop kind of way

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Sep 13, 2012 Ant Harrison rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: in-the-past, favourites

Sarah Waters excels herself in this dark and atmospheric tale of spiritualism, forbidden relationships and death. If that makes it sound like some creaky potboiler, don't be fooled, because this is one of the most gripping and authentic novels you are ever likely to read.

Waters' fiction is always compelling, with an internal urgency and drive that is always about more than simply writing exciting stories that make you want to turn the pages. The characters and setting are so well realised, so r...more

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Apr 20, 2010 Joyce Lagow rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sarah Waters has written a gem of a book, a historical novel set in Victorian England in the 1870s.[return][return]Margaret Prior, in an effort to recover from a mental and emotional breakdown resulting in a suicide attempt over the death of her father, has become a Lady Visitor to the women� s ward of Millbank Prison in London. It was fairly typical in those days for upper-class women to engage in � good works� of charity, and one such activity was visiting women in prison to help them � improv...more Sarah Waters has written a gem of a book, a historical novel set in Victorian England in the 1870s.[return][return]Margaret Prior, in an effort to recover from a mental and emotional breakdown resulting in a suicide attempt over the death of her father, has become a Lady Visitor to the women� s ward of Millbank Prison in London. It was fairly typical in those days for upper-class women to engage in � good works� of charity, and one such activity was visiting women in prison to help them � improve� themselves. One of the prisoners is Selina Dawes, a spiritualist medium, who is serving a 4 year sentence over the death of her patroness and the emotional injury to another woman during a spiritualist session. Margaret finds herself drawn to Selina, who fascinates her much like a snake does a bird. Margaret comes to believe that Selina has the power to communicate with spirits who then can carry out her wishes; bizarre events occur in Margaret� s home that she can explain no other way.[return][return]Such is the context of this remarkable book. Waters spins out the story of the attraction between the two women to a totally unexpected end that blows the reader right of the water, so to speak. Structured as excerpts from both women� s diaries� Selina� s 2 years earlier than Margret� s entries� it is an excellent method for building the tension in the plot, giving nothing away until the very end. In addition, Waters has the fun of using the Victorian obsession with spiritualism as a focus of the plot.[return][return]Utterly integral to the plot as well are the conditions in women� s prisons of the time. Waters has clearly done her research; the effects on the women themselves are told through the story and are very dramatic as a result. What makes it even more horrifying to me is that in some ways, nothing has changed: there are still the sadists in today� s prisons, and those who truly wish to do well, to rehabilitate the women according to whatever moral standards prevail at the time. [return][return]Waters has a sure touch with her characters. Margaret� s fragility and vulnerability come through clearly, and Selina is an enigma. All the minor characters in the book whether Selina� s family, the matrons in the prison or the women prisoners themselves all have distinct voices. It is a remarkable tour de force that Waters can keep them all separate� and totally believable, especially Selina.[return][return]This is an outstanding read, another winner from Sarah Waters. Highly recommended.(less)

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Feb 14, 2013 Dana rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A young upper-class woman, Margaret Prior, just recovering from a suicide attempt starts to visit the women in Millbank prison. There she meets Selina Dawes who is jailed because of a seance gone wrong. Selina is a spiritualist.

As the story progresses Margaret seems to be more and more drawn to her. At the same time Margaret's home life is becoming more and more difficult. Her siblings are all married and she is hounded by her mother. She is taking more and more drugs for her 'spells'

I disliked...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Elaine rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: will-not-finish, ebooks

What a plodding bore! And by such an excellent novelist! The plotting is original.
but the language plods along with repetitious details,
such as how often do we have to hear about doses of Chloral?

The reasons for the heroine's visits to the prison were muddy. The prison scenes.
while probably accurate were devoid of suspense. They were merely dreary. Even springing an inmate from gaol didn't grab me.

Were Waters a lesser novelist, I'd have given this 2 stars. This should have been as exciting as...more

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Oct 03, 2012 S.S. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbt, historical, romance, sad-ending-oh-god, psychological, paranormal, favorites

Oh, Sarah Waters, the lesbian Charles Dickens. Some think she’s boring and I totally understand that. Nothing can be more mundane than flowing, ornate sentences filled with imagery strong enough to physically transport you to the setting, right? And don’t get me started on that gorgeous historically accurate Victorian-style prose. I’m half asleep just thinking about her engaging plots and characters. So, yeah, I can definitely see how it can be boring and how you’d rather watch football or somet...more Oh, Sarah Waters, the lesbian Charles Dickens. Some think she’s boring and I totally understand that. Nothing can be more mundane than flowing, ornate sentences filled with imagery strong enough to physically transport you to the setting, right? And don’t get me started on that gorgeous historically accurate Victorian-style prose. I’m half asleep just thinking about her engaging plots and characters. So, yeah, I can definitely see how it can be boring and how you’d rather watch football or something.

That was sarcasm, by the way.

Okay, cutting the crap and getting down to the review. Yes, there will be spoilers.

Affinity is about a spinster (an older, unmarried woman) named Margaret Prior and, boy, has life really messed her up. Her father (whom she loved dearly) is dead, her mom is overbearing and protective and a Bible away from being the mom in Carrie, her former (female) lover is married to her brother and they have a child together. She takes chloral every day for her emotional instability/insomnia, eventually using it to aid in her suicide after the death of her father. Her suicide failed, obviously, so she decided to be a Lady Visitor at Millbank prison, spending her days speaking with convicts.

At the prison, she meets quirkily alluring and enigmatic Selina Dawes, a psychic medium incarcerated for a reading gone awry. The two seem to be oddly attracted to one another, the nature of their meetings becoming increasingly intimate (on the emotional level, you pervs. Okay, okay, it was supposed to be romantic, but, ya know, jail cells aren’t the most private places).

Throughout the whole thing, there’s an overhanging sense of dread and the entire atmosphere of the book is summed up by: something isn’t right here. After all, Selina seems to be the real deal when it comes to mediums and definitely isn’t a fraud. No, ma’am. No way. Nuh uh. Never ever. Totally honest. Yup.

Long story short, the ending is a bit of a mindfuck if you’re like me and start thinking after you finish a book, as opposed to during.

A handful of other reviews claim that they didn’t care for the character of Margaret Prior, or that they were angry because she was impressionable, weak, and lacked a backbone. I can assume that these people have also never suffered through the trials of uncontrollable bouts of depression, anxiety, self-identity crises, or any other emotional disorders. They probably have thriving social lives and aren’t afraid of things like spiders or airplanes. This isn’t a bad thing, so be glad that your mental health is squeaky clean and you can’t relate to a hopeless and miserable character. I, on the other hand, am utterly neurotic, so Margaret and I got along like two people at an A.A. meeting. To understand her actions, you had to have been familiar with her state of mind. Her obsessiveness and anxiety so mirrored my own, and that was probably the most frightening part of the book.

You see, Margaret’s weakness is what drove the plot. Her infatuation and vulnerability is what kept her coming back to Selina time and time again. The way she desperately latched onto her and put her on a pedestal as basically her saving grace was beautiful in itself.

Speaking of their relationship, let me talk about that for a bit. It was adorable, in my opinion. At first, you’re really convinced that this is a genuine type of love and that two people truly found each other at a miserable time in their lives and are now destined to defeat the odds and get married and gain weight and watch reality shows together, happily ever after. But this isn’t Nicholas Sparks — this is a Victorian lesbian dark paranormal anguish-filled melodrama, and it wants you to be sad.

All in all, this book was fantastic. The plot twist was intricately crafted, almost to an absurd degree. It contained almost everything I’m interested in, which consists of the paranormal, social stigmas, mental instability, Victorian England, betrayal, superb prose, and lesbians.(less)

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Sep 24, 2012 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It’s 1874 and Margaret Prior is a spinster at only 29. She’s trapped in an oppressive life with her mother and sees no escape. She’s grieving the loss of her father and the end of a recent romance. She decides to begin visiting Millbank Prison as a “Lady Friend” giving comfort to the female prisons there. She forms a particular attachment with the prisoner Selina Dawes, a spiritualist jailed when she hosts a séance that ends badly.

This one started out pretty slow for me. Fingersmith and The Litt...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Caly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: england, fantasy, ghosties, lgbt-characters, mystery, period, favorites

This was yet another book from my favourite (now disappeared) book outlet on the Wildwood boardwalk. I picked it up for the blurb, aand the gorgeous cover-art. (I have a tendency of doing that when I don't have recommendations or a particular reason for shopping.) This also has the honour of being the first book I read that contained lesbians. This was accidental, and gave me a bit of a heart attack at the time, making me read it in a corner where no one could look over my shoulder.

My experienc...more

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May 22, 2012 La Petite Américaine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: meh-whatever

I will NOT say anything bad about Sarah Waters. She is just more proof that the British have been and always will be better writers than their American counterparts. This chick gives us the best of intensity and suspense of Daphne du Maurier and all of the naughty sex scenes that Daphne skimped out on. In short, Sarah knows what she's doing.

That said, it took me a year to read this book. It was tense, dark, and was in no way like its sex-fest un-putdown-able predecessor Tipping the Velvet. The e...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

MY TAKE: My own affinity.
This novel was beautifully written – I saw the movie first, and should definitely
have read the book first. The film makes more sense now that I have the full
story. The story line in the film was slightly altered, which is normal for book-
to-film conversions, but still amazing. She has a fluidity to her writing – the
characters and the story pull you into their world, and the story of love, loss
and betrayal has a much deeper impact with that immersion. I liked “Fingers...more

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Dec 18, 2011 Jo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Tonight I will sleep fitfully, haunted more by a young spiritualist than by her spirits. Artfully crafted, using imagery that springs to mind so vividly one would think it a memory, Sarah Waters has fashioned yet another masterpiece.

The year is 1874. Selina Dawes, a mysterious and powerful young spirit-medium is imprisoned in a monstrous and daunting women’s gaol, Millbank. Jailed after a botched spirit-communication lead to the death of her patron, Selina is visited by no one but her spirit fri...more Tonight I will sleep fitfully, haunted more by a young spiritualist than by her spirits. Artfully crafted, using imagery that springs to mind so vividly one would think it a memory, Sarah Waters has fashioned yet another masterpiece.

The year is 1874. Selina Dawes, a mysterious and powerful young spirit-medium is imprisoned in a monstrous and daunting women’s gaol, Millbank. Jailed after a botched spirit-communication lead to the death of her patron, Selina is visited by no one but her spirit friends until a local mistress comes to visit the prisoners.

The visitor, Margaret Prior, is a young lady of London, highly educated and brought up as assistant to her late father, an arts professor. Despairing his absence from her life, Margaret travels about in something of haze—looking for something she knows not what. When she encounters Dawes, Margaret is simultaneously scared witless by the girl and entranced by her power. The women’s relationship builds with Margaret learning more about Dawes from newspapers and first hand accounts, than from her fleeting and bewildering encounters with Selina.

Interspersed with short journal entries from Selina’s days as a burgeoning spirit-medium conducting séances, the story follows Margaret’s research as she seeks to uncover the mystery of Selina’s past, her powers, and why she is so affected by her. Although the reader is not privy to Selina’s current thoughts, her journal entries, coupled with her unexplainable powers and knowledge of the spirit realm make her enticing and irresistible. In stark and painful contrast to her exciting prison visits, Margaret’s everyday life unfortunately is constantly rearing its ugly head. Her sister is getting married and the preparations fill her days with a dreary stupor.

Although Affinity could hardly be called frightening, it is nevertheless haunting. Descriptions of landscapes, buildings, rooms, etc. feel so intensely ominous that they end up being far scarier than accounts of the spirit encounters. Affinity’s characters can be trusted to illicit your empathy, pity, sorrow, hatred, wonder, love and lust (and in my cast jealousy). Being at once a tale of impropriety and youthful indiscretion between girls, and a bildungsroman of Margaret’s spiritual and sexual development, one cannot but feel compassion toward its struggling young lovers.(less)

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Oct 17, 2011 Vanessa Wu rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For a long time I believed that all English novels ought to be written in long, difficult sentences with complicated clauses and words that no-one ever uses in conversation. Narrators ought to be effete and educated. Plots should be convoluted. Coincidences should stretch credulity. And there should be romance and sometimes even heartbreak.

It was with reluctance and some sorrow that I learned that novels survived the onslaught of James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner. They not only su...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Sandra Lawson rated it 4 of 5 stars

As usual Sarah Waters researches her period extensively, even capturing the styles and patterns of speech used in 1870s England. You become seduced by the first person narrations of Margaret (the lady visitor to Millbank prison) and Selina (the prisoner and spiritualist). However, Margaret's story fills the bulk of the novel and it's extremely easy for the reader to adopt her perspective, despite a twenty-first century scepticism about spiritualism. Seances went through an extremely popular phas...more

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Jun 20, 2011 Rebecca N. McKinnon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Lily Peters

I read Sarah Waters' "Affinity" for an Approaches to Literary Interpretation course. Waters studied Victorian Lit at the postgraduate level, and her writing style shows a learned sophistication and intelligence that only such an education could provide. To read "Affinity" is to travel back in time, to enter into an ideological adventure that is both enjoyable and unyieldingly specific to the Victorian time period. Within this adventure, the domination of unique characters under unique circumstan...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Buffy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Once again, Waters took me by surprise with this book. She writes a good mystery. I strongly recommend reading her books without reading the synopsis. They always give away too much information and Waters' books in particular are more enjoyable when you just have no idea what is coming. Waters' writing style is incredibly compelling to me. It just draws me along and feels very vivid and real. The places and people just seem to spring off the page. This one had a slightly spooky feel as well. I w...more

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Feb 24, 2011 Sophia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, historical-fiction, london, mental-illness, paranormal, uk, queer

Affinity, second in line behind Sarah Water's debut novel Tipping the Velvet, continues the same lesbian-Victorian England theme, with gothic splashes added in with exploration of the Spiritualist movement. The narrative is carried by the two protagonists across two different timelines. We are allowed to read the secret diary of Margaret Prior, who takes up a role as a Lady Visitor at Millbank Prison (where the Tate Gallery now stands) as part of her recovery from a suicide attempt. She becomes...more

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About Sarah Waters

Sarah Waters is a British novelist. She is best known for her first novel, Tipping the Velvet, as well the novels that followed, including Affinity, Fingersmith, and The Night Watch.
Waters attended university, and earned degrees in English literature. Before writing novels, Waters worked as an academic, earning a doctorate and teaching. Waters went directly from her doctoral thesis to her first no...more

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Quotes from Affinity

“It is a world that is made of love. Did you think there is only the kind of love your sister knows for her husband? Did you think there must be here, a man with whiskers, and over here, a lady in a gown? Haven't I said, there are no whiskers and gowns where spirits are? And what will your sister do if her husband should die, and she should take another? Who will she fly to then, when she has crossed the spheres? For she will fly to someone, we will all fly to someone, we will all return to that piece of shining matter from which our souls were torn with another, two halves of the same. It may be that the husband your sister has now has that other soul, that has the affinity with her soul—I hope it is. But it may be the next man she takes, or it may be neither. It may be someone she would never think to look to on the earth, someone kept from her by some false boundary...” — 23 people liked it

“Why do gentlemen's voices carry so clearly, when women's are so easily stifled?” — 16 people liked it

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