Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2344 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Fingersmith is the third slice of engrossing lesbian Victoriana from Sarah Waters. Although lighter and more melodramatic in tone than its predecessor Affinity, this hypnotic suspense novel is awash with all manner of gloomy Dickensian leitmotifs: pickpockets; orphans; grim prisons; lunatic asylums; "laughing villains" and, of course, "stolen fortunes and girls made out to be mad". Oliver Twist (which is mentioned on the opening page), The Woman in White and The Prince and the Pauper all exert an influence on it but none overawe. Like Peter Ackroyd, Waters has an uncanny gift for inventive reconstruction.

Divided into three parts, the tale is narrated by two orphaned girls whose lives are inextricably linked. It begins in a grimy thieves kitchen in Borough, South London with 17-year-old orphan Susan Trinder. She has been raised by Mrs Sucksby, a cockney Ma Baker, in a household of fingersmiths (pickpockets), coiners and burglars. One evening Richard "Gentleman" Rivers, a handsome confidence man, arrives. He has an elaborate scheme to defraud Maud Lilly, a wealthy heiress. If Sue will help him she'll get a share of the "shine". Duly installed in the Lillys' country house as Maud's maid, Sue finds that her mistress is virtually a prisoner. Maud's eccentric Uncle Christopher, an obsessive collector of erotica (loosely modelled on Henry Spenser Ashbee) controls every aspect of her life. Slowly a curious intimacy develops between the two girls and as Gentleman's plans take shape, Sue begins to have doubts. The scheme is finally hatched but as Maud commences her narrative it suddenly becomes more than a tad difficult to tell quite who has double-crossed who. Waters' penchant for Byzantine plotting can get a bit exhausting but even at its densest moments--and remember this is smoggy London circa 1862--it remains mesmerising. A damning critique of Victorian moral and sexual hypocrisy, a gripping melodrama and a love story to boot, this book ingeniously reworks some truly classic themes.--Travis Elborough

Review
'It is a rare pleasure to discover a writer as assured as Waters' Joan Smith, Sunday Times 'A chilling, ingenious erotic thriller - unputdownable' Sunday Express 'Sarah Waters is one of the best storytellers alive today.sooner or later she's going to be given the Booker' Matt Thorne, Independent on Sunday 'An extraordinarily good novel' Douglas Kennedy, Mail on Sunday

Docklands and City of London Recorder
"Buy it or borrow it - but do yourself a favour, and read it."

Customer Reviews

Review
It is 1862. Sue is an orphan, her mother hanged for murder, who has been brought up by Mrs Sucksby and her little gang of thieves - she's a "fingersmith", a pickpocket. One of the gang, "Gentleman", has a plan to marry a lady, Maud Lilly - the niece of a man he is binding prints for, who is the heiress to a great fortune. Sue is employed as a maid to Maud Lilly, to help Gentleman elope with her, and, when the time comes, leave her in a madhouse and take her inheritance. For this Sue is promised £2,000.
But that's only the very beginning of the book - there are many ups and downs and twists to the plot as the novel progresses.

I hadn't read anything by Sarah Waters before, so some aspects of this book came as a bit of a surprise to me. The novel starts off like a cross between Oliver Twist and Jane Eyre, so sudden outbursts of strong language come as a bit of a shock. With the appearance of a tasteful lesbian episode, graphic depictions of grim Victorian asylums, libraries and dark little shops dealing with collections of erotica it becomes less Dickensian and more like the movie "Quills". The descriptions of Victorian London are excellent. There is a real feeling for the dark, narrow, filthy streets of London of the period and of the fetid swill of the Thames. Dealing in the milieu of seedy bookshops and erotic literature, lends the book a further sleazy aspect.

If the plot's dramatic twists and developments are a little unconvincing, it is the author's assurance in the handling of the characters that carries it off and makes you want to believe them. Even if the character-types are a little stereotypical and Dickensian, the characters themselves are well-developed. No-one is an out and out villain - each character has their own personal motivations and these change as circumstances change. We see characters differently as the novel progresses and feel a certain sympathy for each of them in their predicaments.

It's not exactly a conventional plot, or a romantic period bodice-ripper as might have been expected - or rather it is quite conventional, but it's just the twist that the female protagonist couldn't care less about the handsome rougue of a male suitor but is attracted to her maid instead, that makes "Fingersmith" a little bit different. From the reviews I have read of her other books, this will no doubt please fans of Sarah Waters. It is well-written, an enjoyable Victorian adventure, a page-turner with a ludicrously convoluted and, frankly, unbelievable plot that twists and turns just when you think you know where it's going and keeps you hanging in there for the resolution to the terrible predicaments that both main characters find themselves in. A good and very enjoyable read.

Keep it close to your chest!
Fingersmith is one of those rare books where the quality of the story transcends the need for any high brow literary criticism. That said, it's a cracking good read, superbly paced and voiced, with twists and turns to make you gasp.

If the setting of "London 1862" doesn't ordinarily inspire you away from 20/21 century "pop" novels, don't so readily dismiss this book. It's a gem of a plot. Whilst London and its surrounds are as evocatively captured as any novel written at the time, it has more edge, more subterfuge, more emotion, more sauce than most contemporary fiction.

There's much more to say about each location set piece, and that plot, but do yourself a favour; before you read it, don't read any more reviews (shame on those who give away some of the story!) and then enjoy the journey.

If you read one book this year, make it Fingersmith. You'll be recommending it to all your friends for a long time to come.

Wow. Beautifully Written, Enchanting and Moreish.
I was recommended to read this book by a friend and was slightly dubious as i don't usually read period novels. However - how wrong can one be? From start to finish I was hooked by the beautiful storytelling of Waters who has suspense and romance down to a fine art. She depicts the tale of a young Victorian girl in a rollercoaster tale of mishaps, mistaken identity and love. I assure you that even if the idea of period drama puts you off- the unmistakable writing style of Waters will keep you entertained to the very end and wanting more from this brilliant storyteller.
More twists than a 1960's school disco. Buy it.