FingersmithSarah Waters
Sarah Waters is one of those authors I often hear praised, but yet have never read myself. After a respected fellow booklover (Nymeth from things mean a lot) told me to read Fingersmith, I thought I could excuse myself from my darned resolution to try a little Waters. AND THANK HEAVENS I DID.
Fingersmith is many things -- thriller, mystery, Gothic romance -- but the one thing it's not is predictable. Just when you think you've put your finger on it (sorry, I could only hold out so long...just count your blessings it wasn't a worse finger joke, cause I have a few), you find out you're wrong.
First, a warning: If you think you're interested in this novel, I'd stay away from any online summaries. I read them after the fact, and they give a wee bit more information than is strictly necessary. I only read the book's back cover, and that suited me just fine. Anything more is too much.
A quick, spoiler-free overview: Sue Trinder is an orphan raised by thieves in Victorian England. Despite the excitement of living outside the law, life really picks up when "Gentleman," a member of their merry band, arrives with a plan to make their fortunes. His plan is simple: dupe a rich girl into marrying him, then dump her in a madhouse. Sue, acting as maid to said rich girl, is to aid Gentleman's plot by talking him up. It won't be long before the marriage is legalized and the riches are shared. Huzzah!
Of course, it won't be that easy. I could say more, but in this case, I think the rest of the plot is better left unsaid. What follows is a complex and intricate plot that twists and turns much like Sue's native Borough. This hefty novel (about 600 pages) flew by in quick gulps, and I finished it faster than novels half its length.
True, it's not perfect: there were a few elements I'd like better explained at the end, and a couple things that didn't really make sense to me, but these trivialities pale in the face of the novel's entirety. My biggest complaint is that I didn't read it in the fall, because it would be perfect in October thanks to a hefty dose of fog and mist, a dark and oppressive English manor, one or two madhouses, and, of course, the cramped and dirty streets of London. Did I mention the fog?
In a nutshell: With its gorgeous prose, riveting plot, and enthralling characters, Fingersmith delivers on all counts. Now, the only question that remains is, which Waters' novel should I next read?
Bibliolatry Scale: 5 out of 6 stars
Fingersmith is many things -- thriller, mystery, Gothic romance -- but the one thing it's not is predictable. Just when you think you've put your finger on it (sorry, I could only hold out so long...just count your blessings it wasn't a worse finger joke, cause I have a few), you find out you're wrong.
First, a warning: If you think you're interested in this novel, I'd stay away from any online summaries. I read them after the fact, and they give a wee bit more information than is strictly necessary. I only read the book's back cover, and that suited me just fine. Anything more is too much.
A quick, spoiler-free overview: Sue Trinder is an orphan raised by thieves in Victorian England. Despite the excitement of living outside the law, life really picks up when "Gentleman," a member of their merry band, arrives with a plan to make their fortunes. His plan is simple: dupe a rich girl into marrying him, then dump her in a madhouse. Sue, acting as maid to said rich girl, is to aid Gentleman's plot by talking him up. It won't be long before the marriage is legalized and the riches are shared. Huzzah!
Of course, it won't be that easy. I could say more, but in this case, I think the rest of the plot is better left unsaid. What follows is a complex and intricate plot that twists and turns much like Sue's native Borough. This hefty novel (about 600 pages) flew by in quick gulps, and I finished it faster than novels half its length.True, it's not perfect: there were a few elements I'd like better explained at the end, and a couple things that didn't really make sense to me, but these trivialities pale in the face of the novel's entirety. My biggest complaint is that I didn't read it in the fall, because it would be perfect in October thanks to a hefty dose of fog and mist, a dark and oppressive English manor, one or two madhouses, and, of course, the cramped and dirty streets of London. Did I mention the fog?
In a nutshell: With its gorgeous prose, riveting plot, and enthralling characters, Fingersmith delivers on all counts. Now, the only question that remains is, which Waters' novel should I next read?
Bibliolatry Scale: 5 out of 6 stars
9 comments:
That's so weird - I have this book sitting in my to read pile right now. A friend of mine recommended it to me, but I definitely didn't get the feeling that very many people had heard of this author in the States.
Glad to see you liked - might need to move it further up on the pile.
I agree - it was going one place, and not a place I was thinking I'd like particuarly, and then BAM at the end of the first section, everything changed and I was riveted.
Fabulous book.
I'm with Mimi. I was all doot doot doot, this is good but not amazing HREAGH!!! WHAT JUST HAPPENED??? And then I read Night Watch and it was good but not amazing. I hear Tipping the Velvet is the other amazingness.
I wish I'd read it in October too! Definitely a perfect fall read.
I read Affinity and it wasn't as good (though still very good! And even more Gothic than this), so yeah, I'm counting on Tipping the Velvet to blow me away too.
Hey! Thanks so much for visiting my blog, because now I've found yours. I'm coming back for sure.
Hi there - if you're into linking to other reviews about the book here's mine for Fingersmith:
http://myflutteringheart.blogspot.com/2009/01/book-review-fingersmith-by-sarah-waters.html
I'm almost nervous to say this with all the positive reviews, but when I read Fingersmith I thought it was just okay.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it, I just didn't have the same overwhelmingly positive response.
I think this may partially be because I was expecting something else - Amazon.com had this in my recommendations list because I had read a lot of Angela Carter & Jeanette Winterson. I don't see how they think Sarah Waters fits in, there...
I read her other stuffs and was not very riveted, they were finely written. I would pick this one up.
Ooh, glad you liked it. It's my favorite Waters book. I would recommend reading Affinity after this and then The Little Stranger. Tipping the Velvet is also great, but not in the gothic vein like these three are (also much more sexual).
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