Tipping the Velvet (Virago V)

I read this one after reading Fingersmith and Affinity and I have to say its one of those books that doesn't leave me and I constantly think about what the main character is doing today *silly me*

Dribble coining the phrase of another critic. I think the aim was meant to be racey but the sex scenes just left me bored to tears. I enjoyed Fingersmith (I loved the main character in this particular novel book), but the characters in this book are a load of rubblish. I can't believe they made it into a DVD. The plot was ropey, and I couldn't get into the characters. How on earth can this book be described as a page turner? Stick to mysteries and ditch the lesbian porn Waters. Im being generous with three stars.

All right, so I'm a heterosexual bloke - but what's wrong with that? Before I read Sara Walters I thought lesbianism was all about women having sex with women. It's more than that of course - it's about women who love women. On a lower level then, as a man, you're going to find a bit of titliation here, and that's why you're interested and probably why you watched the TV series, right? But really, once you calm down a bit you'll realise this is a love story, and I thought a very good one - bursting with period detail and achingly well written.

Tipping the Velvet is a colourful and lively novel in the tradition of feminist greats such as Carter's Wise Children and Woolf's Orlando. This style makes it quite a different type of novel to Waters' later works such as Fingersmith and the Little Stranger, despite its 19th century setting. The novel is a bawdy yarn and certainly not for the prudish. There's plenty of sex, but it's never gratuitous and is always closely tied into the plot. Waters makes lesbian London of the 1890s really come alive. The unidealised characters are well crafted and the descriptions of music halls and mansions vivid and memorable. The novel is extremely funny at times, but can also be melancholy. Tipping the Velvet loses some of its sparkle during the last third and the conclusion seems a little false, but overall its a great novel and well worth a read.

Really knows how to keep the interest going ...without going over the top. Non gays are allowed to love this book too I hope? The settings in the book are so well portrayed you'd swear Ms Waters had lived way back then. The lifestyle, both decadent and wretched comes through on every page, the characters become so real one wants to get back to them as soon as possible. A rattling good "costume" drama.

First of all, it is unfair to compare Sarah Waters to Charles Dickens. This comparison is weak at best and does neither writer any favours. Anyone who has a true regard for Dickens' work would not draw the comparison as it is based entirely on the fact that the novels take place in Victorian England and in my opinion, this generalisation diminishes what Waters is trying to achieve with her writing. Tipping the Velvet does not even take place in a time period that Dickens was alive to see, for one thing. The one thing that can be compared with Dickens, however, is the reliance in this novel upon unlikely coincidences, particularly in the ending. This irritated me as when things are too convenient for a character the novel becomes unrealistic and you start to feel like just anything can occur in order to get the book finished. I also found that it went on for about 100 pages too long; I was enjoying it at first but despite reading it fairly quickly on holidays, I did feel it begin to drag and at times, like it was never going to end. A big plus point is that Sarah Waters really can write well. Her descriptions are wonderful but not too dense, her sense of the language of the time is great and she does create an atmosphere very well. The details about the oyster house and music halls were informative and believable. This is someone who obviously knows her stuff, there is no doubt about that and for a first novel the grasp of the complicated landscape she is writing about was excellent. My main bugbear with this novel was, unfortunately, the main character which in turn meant the narrative voice got on my nerves because it was in first person. I didn't find Nan the least bit sympathetic at any point - she was needy, snobbish, irritating, selfish and entitled. Even after she has her traumatic experience with Kitty, she acts like an idiot and with an air of self-abuse that seems unlikely. I was not rooting for her at any point in the novel apart from when she was an innocent oyster girl falling in love with the glamourous Kitty - that was the only time I felt she had relatable depth of character. The plot also has its issues, with its three different sections. The first section about Nan's life with her family then her move to the London music hall scene is involving, as is the love story with Kitty. The growing love and passion between them is realistic and compelling and the fact that it is a lesbian romance never really factors, it is truly just a love story between two people. However, when Nan gets to London and moves through her life there, including the second section involving Diana Lethaby, (which is so soapy as to be ridiculous), suddenly EVERYONE seems to become a 'tom' according to Nan. Whatever women are watching her perform, or walking down the street, they ALL secretly wish to be lesbians. This irritated me as it was pushing the message too far, as if the reading audience would obviously think that lesbianism is a purely 20th century invention and needed to be 'taught' that it occured amongst the Victorians. Well, duh. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows that same sex relationships have occurred from the start of the human race and as far as I am concerned, if you didn't realise that then you would not be reading this book. So it annoyed me that the author thought her audience ignorant enough to have to thrust this idea forward all the time. Not all women are lesbians, or wish they weren't married so they could be one, in the same way not everyone is straight. I just found this blinkered view a bit narcissistic and it clouded the book for me because I think her readers are more open minded than she gave credit for. All in all, for a first novel it is well written and in an interesting setting. What it lacks in great characters it partly makes up for in its surroundings. I wish there had been MORE Victorian London and LESS Nan's opinions, but you can't have everything. I would say it is worth a read, but it won't change your life. I did give Waters' books another chance though, and I'm happy to say she does get better!

At 650 pages, I think this novel started to drag towards the end and could have finished a good 100 pages earlier. However, I did enjoy the first two parts of this book, the vivid descriptions of Victorian London really give you an impression of how tough life was and Nan's infatuation with Kitty was very well portrayed as was the downward spiral of how she became a "renter". I think it started to lose it's edge when she moved in with Florence - would Nan really prefer to track down a virtual stranger to beg accomodation with instead of her family who she just turned against for no real reason exceprt her sister wasn't best pleased about her being a lesbian! The sex descriptions are very detailed and raunchy and did leave you to believe that Nan was a nynphomaniac. Overall, I did enjoy the majority of this book but felt the last part let it down. And, also, I started to get annoyed at the use of the word "regular" instead of "normal" or "ordinary" - this is an Americanism and doubt it was used in the late 1800's in England????

This is the first time I have received anything through Amazon that has not been first class, even though the book came from someone else. I knew the book was second hand but the front cover was torn, there is untidy messy writing in the cover, and the print on many pages is overlapping. A friend who works for Oxfam books says they would have thrown it away as a reject!

Story of girl who fall in love to theather acress, and eventualy become her lover and companion. But life hit hard and their love broke and girl must found new love. Must read like all Sarah Waters books.

This book is awful. I wish I hadn't bought it, its not worth the money. My main is issue is with the protagonist, Nancy. She is quite frankly pathetic with an ability to get on the reader's nerves easily. She seems incapable of maintaining a friendship with a woman without it turning into something else. She abandons her family and never seems to care or even really to think about them...in a period of five years. The only emotion she is capable of is lust and I find this annoying. She is completely dependent on others and makes no attempt to build her own life for herself. I could go on and on about how bad this book is. Save your money and buy an interesting book!!!!