Product Description

Set in and around the women's prison at Milbank in the 1870's , AFFINITY is an eerie and utterly compelling ghost story, a complex and intriguing literary mystery and a poignant love story with an unexpected twist in the tale. Following the death of her father, Margaret Prior has decided to pursue some 'good work' with the lady criminals of one of London's most notorious gaols. Surrounded by prisoners, murderers and common thieves, Margaret feels herself drawn to one of the prisons more unlikely inmates - the imprisoned spiritualist - Selina Dawes. Sympathetic to the plight of this innocent-seeming girl, Margaret sees herself dispensing guidance and perhaps friendship on her visits, little expecting to find herself dabbling in a twilight world of seances, shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9528 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Affinity is a tale of power and possession that Henry James himself might admire. In her first novel, Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters explored secrets and longing--capping off this lesbian romp with a utopian-socialist vision. Her intricate follow-up is just as sensual but infinitely darker, its moral more difficult to descry. Its stylistic and psychological rewards, however, are visible at every turn, the author's persuasive imagination matched by her gift for storytelling.

In late September 1874, Margaret Prior makes her way through the pentagons of London's Millbank Prison, a place of fearful symmetry and endless corridors. This plain woman on the verge of 30 has come to comfort those behind bars, several of whom Waters brings to instant, sad life. And our lady visitor plans to take her role seriously, having recovered from two years of nervous indolence in her family's Chelsea house. One person, however, makes her job a passion. Opening an inspection slit (or "eye" as these devices are known), Margaret hears "a perfect sigh, like a sigh in a story". Peering inward, she's confronted by the most erotic of visions--a woman turned towards the sun, caressing her cheek with a forbidden violet: "As I watched her, she put the flower to her lips, and breathed upon it, and the purple of the petals gave a quiver and seemed to glow..."

The medium Selina Dawes may indeed have the face of a Crivelli angel, but she is in prison for fraud and assault. Suffice to say that the first full encounter between these two very different women is enthralling. "You think spiritualism a kind of fancy," Selina riddles. "Doesn't it seem to you, now that you are here, that anything might be real, since Millbank is?" And soon enough Margaret receives several viable signs of the supernatural: a locket disappears from her room, flowers mysteriously appear and her dazzling friend knows everything about her. Strangest of all, Selina seems to love her.

As Margaret records her weekly forays, her own past comes into focus, notably her plans to travel to Italy with her first love (who is now her sister-in-law). But her current journal, she convinces herself, is to be very different from her last one, which "took as long to burn as human hearts, they say, do take". Meanwhile, Waters offers a narrative two-for-one, placing Margaret's diary cheek by jowl with Selina's chronicle of her pre-Millbank existence. This dispassionate, staccato record initially suggests that we can separate truth from desire. Or can we? What Waters' haunting creation leaves us with is a more painful reality--that knowledge and belief are entirely different things. --Kerry Fried, Amazon.com

Review
'Indeed, this is such a brilliant writer that her readers would believe anything she told them' A.N. WILSON, D. MAIL ** 'Spooky, spellbinding, exquisitely written ... I do believe Waters is on the way to becoming a major literary star' VAL HENNESSY ** 'A work of intense and atmospheric imagination ... Sarah Waters is ... a kind of feminist Dickens' TELEGRAPH 'Sexy, spooky, stylish, AFFINITY is a wonderful book from any perspective' G. FODEN, GUARDIAN

VAL HENNESSY
'Spooky, spellbinding, exquisitely written ... I do believe Waters is on the way to becoming a major literary star'

Customer Reviews

Affinity pulls you in however hard you try
Having read "Tipping the Velvet" I was expecting a lot of colour, frivolity and fun from "Affinity". Even though I'd read it was set in a prison I awaited a Victorian "Bad Girls". However it was far from any of these - it was dark, it was psychological and so different from the previous novel. Subtle and discreet the reader is slowly drawn into Affinity and the world of Millbank, just as Margaret is drawn to Selina and however hard you try to resist this pull - you end up not just "wanting" to believe in the "magic" but like Miss Prior "NEEDING TO". I recommend this novel even though a lot of people prefer "Tipping the Velvet" I loved the repression and wanting in "Affinity" - Sara Waters explores that human need to believe in someone or something and she does this superbly!

Storytelling at its best.
I brought "Affinity" after reading "Tipping the Velvet" (also an astounding read). The book describes a two year time frame of events--one that occurs in the present and the other describing the events that led to the present.

It is set in the late 1800's, in London, England. Sarah Water's takes you on a fascinating journey of intrigue, devotion, deception, passion, etc., etc.--it's all here. It is written in a marvelously descriptive text that lures you in in such a manner that you simply cannot put the book down. Water's slowly drops hints along the way, and never allows the reader to guess at any outcome of events.

I was slightly disappointed by (what seemed like) the sudden ending of the book. But only disappointed because I was so utterly convinced of the inevitable outcome (I felt as bewildered as Miss Prior). I have not been surprised by a plot/book/author for a very long time.

I highly recommend "Tipping the Velvet" and "Affinity." I assure you, in reading these books, you will be in skilled hands.

A brilliantly well developed novel. Delightfully unexpected
Wow, what can I say, Sarah Waters has done it again only this time with such a stroke of genius you will be amazed! How brillinatly she lulls you into a false sense of familiarity; soothing you to believe that "Affinity" is just another twist on her previous work of art "Tipping the Velvet". However, heed her warnings when our new protaganist warns that "this journal will not be like the last". No, this time she will avoid the desperate yearnings of the heart and focus on more practical things. Well of course I began to lose sight of that when the author guided me so beautifully through the thoughts and longings of young Margaret Prior as she befriends the women at the dark and hellish Millbank prison. But Sarah Waters' imagery and use of language is cleverly manipulative. Her frequent reference to an image of melting wax reflects how changable our story really is - nothing is as it seems.
Such a wonderful read I had to consume the whole story in one sitting and after joyfully kicking myself at its ending, took pure delight in reading it over again with the benefit of hindsight.