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Books : Tipping the Velvet (Virago V)
Back
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9781860495243
Edition: New edition
ISBN: 1860495249
Label: Virago Press Ltd
Manufacturer: Virago Press Ltd
Number Of Pages: 472
Publication Date: March 04, 1999
Publisher: Virago Press Ltd
Studio: Virago Press Ltd
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Amazon.co.uk Review:
The heroine of Sarah Waters's audacious first novel knows her destiny, and seems content with it. Her place is in her father's seaside restaurant, shucking shellfish and stirring soup, singing all the while. "Although I didn't believe the story told to me by Mother--that they had found me as a baby in an oyster-shell, and a greedy customer had almost eaten me for lunch--for 18 years I never doubted my own oysterish sympathies, never looked beyond my father's kitchen for occupation, or for love." At night Nancy Astley often ventures to the nearby music hall, not that she has illusions of being more than an audience member. But the moment she spies a new male impersonator--still something of a curiosity in England circa 1888--her years of innocence come to an end and a life of transformations begins.
Tipping the Velvet, all 472 pages of it, is as saucy, as tantalising, and as touching as the narrator's first encounter with the seductive but shame-ridden Miss Kitty Butler. And at first even Nancy's family is thrilled with her gender-bending pal, all but her sister, best friend, and bedmate, Alice, "her eyes shining cold and dull, with starlight and suspicion". Not to worry. Soon Nancy and Kitty are off to London, their relationship close though (alas for our heroine) sisterly. We know that bliss will come, and it does, in an exceptionally charged moment. A lesser author would have been content to stop her story there, but Waters has much more in mind for her buttonholing heroine, and for us. In brief, her Everywoman with a sexual difference goes from success onstage to heartbreak to a stint as a male prostitute (necessity truly is the mother of invention) to keeping house for a brother and sister in the Labour movement. And did I mention her long stint as a plaything in the pleasure palace of a rich Sapphist extraordinaire? Diana Lethaby is as cruel as she is carnal, and even the well- concealed Cavendish Ladies' Club isn't outré enough for her. Kitting Nancy out in full, elegant drag, she dares the front desk to turn them away. "We are here," she mocks, "for the sake of the irregular."
Only after some seven years of hard twists and sensual turns does Nancy conclude that a life of sensation is not enough. Still, Tipping the Velvet is so entertaining that readers will wish her sentimental--and hedonistic--education had taken twice as long. --Kerry Fried, Amazon.com
Rating:
- A revelation
To be honest, I was dreading reading this novel. I hated the television adaptation and the only reason I did read it is because a friend let me a pile of fiction, it was the last one and I didn't have anything else to read. However, from the moment I began reading I was extremely impressed by Water's confidence writing style and reliable historical research. She is one of the best historical fiction writers I have ever read and I can't rate her highly enough. I believe Sarah Waters deserves to be ... Read More
Rating: - Lip Bitingly good
My Sarah waters virginity was lost with "Fingersmith" (which i adored), so i naturally moved onto Tipping the Velvet. Unlike Fingersmith, there is only one character to focus on. Not that this was a bad thing however; in fact it made the book more intense. You could completly induldge in Nans thoughts, feelings, experiences and heart break. It was a deliciously smooth read which i found impossible to put down and shall re-read over an over. If you want to give your mind something to devour, then let ... Read More
Rating: - I feel I grew up with these two young women
By Mr. W. Dover "aspiring nobody" (Duesseldorf, Germany) - See all my reviews
This story just takes you right inside the lives of two young women living in Victorian England. These central characters are both experiencing so many new things in their lives, yet they gradually find that they have fundamentally different motives and desires. Either they are greedy for admiration and fame, or they are falling in love for the first time.
Like Sarah Waters' more recent ... Read More
Rating:
- A good read
It's reputation as a Victorian lesbian bodice ripper having preceded it, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Tipping the Velvet. I needn't have worried - it is an extremely well written book, which drew me into the story and kept me intrigued from the very start.
The main topic of the story is lesbianism in the 1890s, and as such it is pretty graphic at many points. Therefore readers who are upset by homosexuality or descriptive sex scenes of any kind should avoid this book. However, ... Read More
Rating: - A Lesbo-Victorian Romp
...as jokingly described by Sarah Waters herself. But oh how much more than that it is. The story is that of Nan Astley, a young and naive oyster girl who falls in love with another woman, thus changing her life forever. We're taken into a great tale of showbusiness, the secret Victorian lesbian underworld, and so much more.
Sarah Waters' usual fantastic writing and imagination brings us yet another brilliant book.
Filled with sex, seduction, pain, heartache, violence, and all in the beautifully ... Read More
Antiquarian, Rare & Collectable • Art, Architecture & Photography • Audio CDs • Audio Cassettes • Biography • Business, Finance & Law • Calendars, Diaries, Annuals & More • Children's Books • Comics & Graphic Novels • Computing & Internet • Crime, Thrillers & Mystery • Fiction • Food & Drink • Gay & Lesbian • Health, Family & Lifestyle • History • Home & Garden • Horror • Humour • Languages • Mind, Body & Spirit • Music, Stage & Screen • Poetry, Drama & Criticism • Reference • Religion & Spirituality • Romance • Science & Nature • Science Fiction & Fantasy • Scientific, Technical & Medical • Society, Politics & Philosophy • Sports, Hobbies & Games • Study Books • Travel & Holiday • Young Adult • e-Books •
Tipping the Velvet (Virago V)
by: Sarah Waters
Our Price: 130,462.20
Prices excluding shipping charge.Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9781860495243
Edition: New edition
ISBN: 1860495249
Label: Virago Press Ltd
Manufacturer: Virago Press Ltd
Number Of Pages: 472
Publication Date: March 04, 1999
Publisher: Virago Press Ltd
Studio: Virago Press Ltd
Related Items:
- Tipping the Velvet : The Complete BBC Series [2002]
- FingerSmith : The Complete BBC Series [2005]
- Sexing the Cherry
- Oranges are Not the Only Fruit
- On Beauty
- see more
Editorial Review:
Amazon.co.uk Review:
The heroine of Sarah Waters's audacious first novel knows her destiny, and seems content with it. Her place is in her father's seaside restaurant, shucking shellfish and stirring soup, singing all the while. "Although I didn't believe the story told to me by Mother--that they had found me as a baby in an oyster-shell, and a greedy customer had almost eaten me for lunch--for 18 years I never doubted my own oysterish sympathies, never looked beyond my father's kitchen for occupation, or for love." At night Nancy Astley often ventures to the nearby music hall, not that she has illusions of being more than an audience member. But the moment she spies a new male impersonator--still something of a curiosity in England circa 1888--her years of innocence come to an end and a life of transformations begins.
Tipping the Velvet, all 472 pages of it, is as saucy, as tantalising, and as touching as the narrator's first encounter with the seductive but shame-ridden Miss Kitty Butler. And at first even Nancy's family is thrilled with her gender-bending pal, all but her sister, best friend, and bedmate, Alice, "her eyes shining cold and dull, with starlight and suspicion". Not to worry. Soon Nancy and Kitty are off to London, their relationship close though (alas for our heroine) sisterly. We know that bliss will come, and it does, in an exceptionally charged moment. A lesser author would have been content to stop her story there, but Waters has much more in mind for her buttonholing heroine, and for us. In brief, her Everywoman with a sexual difference goes from success onstage to heartbreak to a stint as a male prostitute (necessity truly is the mother of invention) to keeping house for a brother and sister in the Labour movement. And did I mention her long stint as a plaything in the pleasure palace of a rich Sapphist extraordinaire? Diana Lethaby is as cruel as she is carnal, and even the well- concealed Cavendish Ladies' Club isn't outré enough for her. Kitting Nancy out in full, elegant drag, she dares the front desk to turn them away. "We are here," she mocks, "for the sake of the irregular."
Only after some seven years of hard twists and sensual turns does Nancy conclude that a life of sensation is not enough. Still, Tipping the Velvet is so entertaining that readers will wish her sentimental--and hedonistic--education had taken twice as long. --Kerry Fried, Amazon.com
Average Rating: 
Rating:
- A revelationTo be honest, I was dreading reading this novel. I hated the television adaptation and the only reason I did read it is because a friend let me a pile of fiction, it was the last one and I didn't have anything else to read. However, from the moment I began reading I was extremely impressed by Water's confidence writing style and reliable historical research. She is one of the best historical fiction writers I have ever read and I can't rate her highly enough. I believe Sarah Waters deserves to be ... Read More
Rating:
- Lip Bitingly goodMy Sarah waters virginity was lost with "Fingersmith" (which i adored), so i naturally moved onto Tipping the Velvet. Unlike Fingersmith, there is only one character to focus on. Not that this was a bad thing however; in fact it made the book more intense. You could completly induldge in Nans thoughts, feelings, experiences and heart break. It was a deliciously smooth read which i found impossible to put down and shall re-read over an over. If you want to give your mind something to devour, then let ... Read More
Rating:
- I feel I grew up with these two young womenBy Mr. W. Dover "aspiring nobody" (Duesseldorf, Germany) - See all my reviews
This story just takes you right inside the lives of two young women living in Victorian England. These central characters are both experiencing so many new things in their lives, yet they gradually find that they have fundamentally different motives and desires. Either they are greedy for admiration and fame, or they are falling in love for the first time.
Like Sarah Waters' more recent ... Read More
Rating:
- A good readIt's reputation as a Victorian lesbian bodice ripper having preceded it, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Tipping the Velvet. I needn't have worried - it is an extremely well written book, which drew me into the story and kept me intrigued from the very start.
The main topic of the story is lesbianism in the 1890s, and as such it is pretty graphic at many points. Therefore readers who are upset by homosexuality or descriptive sex scenes of any kind should avoid this book. However, ... Read More
Rating:
- A Lesbo-Victorian Romp...as jokingly described by Sarah Waters herself. But oh how much more than that it is. The story is that of Nan Astley, a young and naive oyster girl who falls in love with another woman, thus changing her life forever. We're taken into a great tale of showbusiness, the secret Victorian lesbian underworld, and so much more.
Sarah Waters' usual fantastic writing and imagination brings us yet another brilliant book.
Filled with sex, seduction, pain, heartache, violence, and all in the beautifully ... Read More
Antiquarian, Rare & Collectable • Art, Architecture & Photography • Audio CDs • Audio Cassettes • Biography • Business, Finance & Law • Calendars, Diaries, Annuals & More • Children's Books • Comics & Graphic Novels • Computing & Internet • Crime, Thrillers & Mystery • Fiction • Food & Drink • Gay & Lesbian • Health, Family & Lifestyle • History • Home & Garden • Horror • Humour • Languages • Mind, Body & Spirit • Music, Stage & Screen • Poetry, Drama & Criticism • Reference • Religion & Spirituality • Romance • Science & Nature • Science Fiction & Fantasy • Scientific, Technical & Medical • Society, Politics & Philosophy • Sports, Hobbies & Games • Study Books • Travel & Holiday • Young Adult • e-Books •
