From the Bookshelf of AfterEllen.com Book Club…

Tipping the Velvet

Sarah Waters

Start date: September 1, 2012

Finish date: September 30, 2012

Why we're reading this: The first official book club selection for September!
[close] The first official book club selection for September!

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Jun 28, 2011 Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!} rated it it was amazing

Shelves: dark, fiction, five-stars, ooh-pretty-cover, relationships, keepers, epicly-awesome, victorian-era, historical, glbt

I just adored this novel. I mean how can you NOT enjoy a novel with Victorian-era gender-bending (lesbian) women?

I think some might find this novel a little slow at first, but once you get into it, it starts picking up the pace.

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Jul 23, 2012 Alicja rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, lgbt-fiction, female-author, lgbt-lesbian, 17th-19th-century

Rating: 2.5/5

Summary: Taking place primarily in the 1890s, Nancy is an oyster girl at her parent’s restaurant. One day she sees an act in the theatre, Miss Kitty Butler performing dressed as a man, and falls in love with her. They become friends, she follows Kitty to London as her dresser, and eventually joins the act as they become “sweethearts.” However, Kitty betrays her and Nancy ends up on her own in the middle of London with little money and her costumes.

Review: Waters is brilliant in usi Rating: 2.5/5

Summary: Taking place primarily in the 1890s, Nancy is an oyster girl at her parent’s restaurant. One day she sees an act in the theatre, Miss Kitty Butler performing dressed as a man, and falls in love with her. They become friends, she follows Kitty to London as her dresser, and eventually joins the act as they become “sweethearts.” However, Kitty betrays her and Nancy ends up on her own in the middle of London with little money and her costumes.

Review: Waters is brilliant in using period language and wonderful descriptions of Victorian England. The novel is in three parts, following the structure of novels from that era (which adds a historical layer to it). However, I just couldn’t stand Nancy (the main character).

During the first third of the novel, Nancy was completely in love with Kitty and I could barely get through the Kitty is so perfect, Kitty is so lovely, Kitty is so blah blah blah (insert too sugary sweet description here). And the plot for the first part could be summarized in half a page. The novel wouldn’t have been any poorer if that part had been much shorter (I could only stomach it in short intervals and had to take a lot of breaks from the book). Once we entered the second third, the plot picked up a little; it became darker and a bit more interesting. Nancy’s annoyingness diminished; although she was still selfish (used people) and an idiot. Nancy is the cause of so many of her own problems and she whines when things go wrong, people help her, and then she drops them the minute something or someone better comes along. She starts out the same way in the third third of the novel; however, she finally starts to make some changes. This last part is also where I finally got into the story. I adore Florence. I even wished the entire novel was about Florence and her wonderful, feminist self. And the ending ended up being pretty decent.

I know I criticized this book a lot, but really it is the character of Nancy that I found distasteful and annoying. The writing is well done, beautiful really. The plot became interesting in the second two thirds, and I love the Victorian era authenticity I felt when reading. However, it almost felt like I was reading three distinctly different novels than three parts of one. Waters wanted to show all the facets of Victorian life (theatre, upper class, rent boys, feminism, workers, etc.) and the place of lesbians within it but at times it seemed she stretched the plot too much to show us everything instead of making the settings fit the plot. It isn’t a brilliant book but Waters seems a promising writer and I’m willing to give her another chance since this was her first novel.
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Sep 28, 2011 Ronel rated it it was ok

I am a huge fan of Affinity, Night Watch and Fingersmith. TTV was a bit dissappointing and the main character irritated me. How much misfortune can one person stand?

Both the book and the BBC series were a bit like Wuthering Heights for lesbians..

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Jul 05, 2010 Annameekee Hesik rated it it was amazing

One the best books with lesbian characters that I have ever read. Incredible attention is paid to the historical period...it is amazing and beautifully written.

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Jan 11, 2011 Née rated it really liked it

Almost her best work, but Fingersmith wins in that category. This is near-perfect. The only thing I didn't enjoy about it was the overly zany portions that I found a bit much to believe. Overall though this is one masterpiece of fiction. ...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Misty rated it really liked it

There are so many "oh"s in this novel that whenever someone said the expression I pictured Eddie Izzard doing a bit from Dressed to Kill :) ...more

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Jun 07, 2012 Gina rated it it was ok

Shelves: didnt-finish

Went from interesting to boring to interesting. Finally i just wasn't into the story anymore. ...more

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Apr 27, 2011 Sara Rideout rated it it was amazing

Shelves: lesbian-romance

I love this book. It opened up the world of Sarah Waters for me. I read it after seeing the BBC mini-series (which is really good too). No, it's not as suspenseful as Fingersmith, which makes it a story I can revisit and enjoy more than once. ...more

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