Tipping the Velvet in Around the World in 80 Books

Oct 24, 2017 marianne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

There are few authors who can set a novel in the past with such richness in detail that it’s a genuine shock to return to the 21st century when your attention slips from the book. Sarah Waters is one of them. That’s in part because she really does her homework when it comes to the era in which she is setting her novels, researching everything from the every item of clothing someone from a specific class would have worn to the exact coinage that would have been used at the time (Victorian money i There are few authors who can set a novel in the past with such richness in detail that it’s a genuine shock to return to the 21st century when your attention slips from the book. Sarah Waters is one of them. That’s in part because she really does her homework when it comes to the era in which she is setting her novels, researching everything from the every item of clothing someone from a specific class would have worn to the exact coinage that would have been used at the time (Victorian money is much more complex than you might imagine, let alone all of British history). Her novels also have the bonus of that same in-depth research trait applied to what same-sex relationships and communities experienced during the eras in which she sets her novels. I️ love reading her novels for these reasons; I’m guaranteed to learn so much.

Tipping the Velvet is one of three novels by Waters set in Victorian England, the other two being Fingersmith and Affinity. It mostly takes place in London, where the main character, Nan King, weaves her way through various aspects of underground Victorian England culture; the world of stage performers and stage artists, male impersonation, queer society, and the rise of socialism in the lower classes. This microcosm-hopping is a very effective literary device as it gives the reader a fantastic tour of obscure, eccentric, sexual Victorian England that is rarely portrayed in literature or films depicting this era. Each of these microcosms was truly fascinating to me. OK, I’ll admit the socialism rally at the end could have been cut in half - it was interesting but distinctly separate from the plot and bored me past a certain point. But just about every other aspect of the book has left deep impressions on me, even vivid memories, several months after having put the book down. How does an author achieve this type of effect on a reader? What are the elements that produce this magical experience?

Nan is a complex character who tends to completely reinvent herself as she leaves one world and enters the next, with little if any ties left to her previous lives. Sometimes these changes are not by choice, and in all cases, she is left destitute, broken hearted, or otherwise humiliated. We are left thinking, at the end, that she has perhaps finally found a stable and positive place for herself after what feels like a roller coaster of highs and lows in her late teens and early twenties. It's a hopeful ending. The book does not feel like a coming of age story, but in retrospect, I’m convinced it is.

As the most classic “Sarah Waters” book Sarah Waters has written, this is must-read for all Sarah Waters fans, and otherwise highly recommend for those not yet familiar with her. ...more

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