Fingersmith in What's the Name of That Book???

Sep 19, 2010 El rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 21st-centurylit

Having taken a quick glance through the ratings for this book on GR I almost feel a little funny giving this book only four stars. It seems to have a lonely place amongst all the five-star ratings; though certainly not as lonely as that one one-star rating I saw.

Sarah Waters blew me away with Tipping the Velvet, which I felt was one of the better contemporary novels I had read in a long time. I was excited to get my dirty paws on anything by her that I could, but then had lackluster feelings abo Having taken a quick glance through the ratings for this book on GR I almost feel a little funny giving this book only four stars. It seems to have a lonely place amongst all the five-star ratings; though certainly not as lonely as that one one-star rating I saw.

Sarah Waters blew me away with Tipping the Velvet, which I felt was one of the better contemporary novels I had read in a long time. I was excited to get my dirty paws on anything by her that I could, but then had lackluster feelings about Affinity. Those lukewarm feelings caused me to put on my brakes just a bit, sort of like a cheated lover. But I got over it and checked out this Fingersmith that absolutely everyone seems to rave about and I had hoped to be knocked over with a feather again.

Unfortunately, I wasn't. And I wondered if maybe this Sarah Waters person really was a one-trick pony.

Fingersmith is about Sue Trinder, a petty thief (hence the title), who becomes involved in quite the little con. To go into details of said con would really be a seriously jerky thing for me to do, so I'll keep my trap shut on that account.

As with the other books I've read by Waters I can say that she wrote an entrancing story. Her characters are generally complex and interesting, though part of my wavering interest lies in the relationships she writes between the female (read: lesbian) characters. The sexual relationships rarely seem to have much impetus - one character gets in bed with the other for one non-sexual reason or another, and before you know it they're making out and gasping and rocking each others' socks off. I don't buy it. Anyone ignorant in these things might think that all women just like to have sex with one another, and that lesbians will eff another lesbian just because it's fun.

That's a frat boy way of thinking, folks. So reading it time and again in Waters's books is sort of disheartening. I felt the lesbian relationship worked better in Tipping the Velvet and was not nearly as gratuitous as it was in Fingersmith. It makes me wonder what sort of point Waters actually is trying to make.

Still, the plot-twists and all kept me hooked and I'm not disappointed I read this. I'll read those other two (?) by her and we'll see how it goes from there. ...more

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May 04, 2018 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books, fiction, 100-best-of-21st-c, literary-schmiterary, era-victorian, crime

... But tonight, all things are out of their order, all my patterns have been disturbed. My liberty beckons: gauge-less, fearful, inevitable as death.

I sleep, and dream I am moving, swiftly, in a high-prowed boat, upon a dark and silent water.

The old England thing and the poor little pickpocket waif have never really been my favorite themes, but this gets such rave reviews, I thought I should check it out and see if Sarah Waters is an author I should be reading.

I am pleased that I didn't re ...more

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Jun 30, 2016 Ryan rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, 2016

This feels a lot like Dickens for people who don't like Dickens, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. A beautiful walk through the muck, where low folk get glimpses of a better life and realize just how much is required of them to climb the ladder. There's love at the centre of this book...but it's certainly not a conventional love story.

...No gloves were harmed in the writing of this novel. ...more

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Mar 06, 2014 HeavyReader rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, found

I had forgotten that I read this book until, while browsing through the First Read giveaways, I read the synopsis of a book called Dolly Vardon (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...).

That description mentions "Harry Sidney Nichols,...publisher of books of every variety of sexual diversion and perversion at a time when printing and selling clandestine erotica was highly illegal." The mention of books dealing with sexual perversion tickled my memory. "Wait," I thought, "didn't I already read ...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Michelle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books, lit_fic, historical-fiction, feminism, book_club, ebook, gothic

beware any reviews giving more than the merest outline of the plot: this novel in the best part of the penny-dreadful tradition needs to be suffered through unspoiled.

once upon a Victorian somewhen, a clever little guttersnipe is offered a chance to help out in a long con. in return for acting as a lady's maid to a reclusive heiress, and convincing her to marry, she'll get a cut of the girl's fortune. what follows is a tale part 'dangerous liasons,' part Dickens, and part Bronte - it's full of ...more

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