Customer Reviews

Affinity

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I like Sarah Waters -- her writing is lovely and her characters are well-developed and interesting. Her ability to evoke 19th century England is fine and she sets the mood, often dark and eerie, rather well. This is a good book, and, like Fingersmith, contains a twist. It's not as interesting as Fingersmith, however; the story isn't as compelling, nor are the characters, and the twist isn't that surprising (the twist in Fingersmith literally made me yelp!). It is a tad slow as well. It's worth the read, but if read after Fingersmith this may disappoint a bit.

Ater finishing Affinity, I can hardly wait for her next book. Ms Waters write such a totally consuming story that it's hard to pull yourself away. I found myself sitting up way into the night and picking up the book at every opportunity just to find out what happens next. However, I didn't want to read it too fast because I knew there wasn't another yet. I hope Ms. Waters continues writing in the fashion of Affinity, Fingersmiths and Tipping The Velvet. I will definitely be first in line for her next masterpiece.

This is a tough review. I have read both of Ms. Waters other books, 'Fingersmith' which is fantastic and 'Tipping the Velvet' which is very good. 'Affinity' is her third and latest book. And its good well written etc but there's the rub for me, the style is there but not the substance. Maybe its the style of writing, diary entries back and forth or something, the book just does not seem to flow as well as the others to me. Ms. Waters' books are very character driven and I just did not 'connect' to either of the characters in this one. As always the surroundings and feel of the period are there but in this book that almost overwhelms the characters themselves.
But again this is a good book. Its a good read..an afternoon into the evening type thats hard to put down. Four stars, to me, mean a better then average read and this book clearly is that. Its just not as great as her other two books in my opinion.

Having already read and fallen in love with Waters' first novel "Tipping the Velvet," I must admit I expected more of the same when I picked up "Affinity." Boy, was I wrong!

Waters has proven herself as a masterful storyteller, crafting tales that draw the reader in and do not let go. I found myself reading at all hours of the day and night, unable to stop turning the pages, absolutely absorbed in the tale unfolding before me. As I read this novel, I found myself falling in love with Selina Dawes, my heart broken by the dark story behind Margaret Prior's stint as a Lady Visitor, and so desperate to know what happens that by the end my head was spinning. My husband sat and just watched me read, my reactions so visceral that I was gripping the book, grimacing in ache and surprise as the story unfolded, and breathing raggedly, wildly, as I rushed headlong to the astounding ending.

This is not your run-of-the-mill mystery, gothic or otherwise. It is sensual, dark and entrancing, and I highly recommend "Affinity" to anyone looking for a good yarn. I have "Fingersmith" waiting to be read, but am enduring a torturous wait before diving into it, desperate to know what fabulous tale Ms. Waters has prepared for me, but painfully aware that once I have devoured it, there will be no more to sate my desire for this woman's fabulous work... And so I wait...

Without going into a lot of detail, I just feel the need to express how wonderfully written and suspensful this was. It seemed to take a little while to get to the action, but every page and description is necessary to draw you ever deeper into the story and for the characters to become fully developed. The ending will mesmerize you and while the twist is not wholly unpredictable, it is the passion with which it is told that will move you. Give it a try!

Affinity is more polished than Waters' previous award-winner "Tipping the Velvet". While Tipping the Velvet was an epic of love and position lost and gained over a lifetime, Affinity focuses on a short period of time and two main characters. The scope of this novel is as tight as a short story, with no trailing pieces left unresolved. There is definitely a Gothic touch, with the dark brooding prison, the yellowish London fogs, and the black mourning clothes that the heroine must wear. This book could be described as a mix of the mysteries of Sherlock Holmes with a Dickensian critique of Victorian society.

The story is about a Lady Visitor, Margaret, who begins visiting the women of Millbank prison because charity work should help get her mind off her dear father's death. There she meets Selina Dawes, a spiritualist who is jailed for an assault that occurred during one of her seances. There are many mystical things that happen in this book, and the reader is left to puzzle out whether to believe in the spirits or look for a logical explanation. Margaret herself is a skeptic, not sure whether to believe in Selina's tales of spirit friends.

The ending comes as quite a surprise, and like the Sixth Sense or Fight Club, will have you paging backwards to look for the clues you missed.

A much different setting than "Tipping the Velvet," Affinity has still managed to capture a dark side of Victorian London. It brushes on the mysteries of "spiritualism" and indulges in a forbidden love of two women. It is suspenseful, keeping you on the edge of your seat until the very end and then some.
It is the story of a proper lady, Margaret Prior and the love affair she shares with prision inmate, Selina Dawes. The books twists and turns, taking you on an unexpected ride where the characters battle between propriety, love, spiritualism and dark secrets.

I have now read all three of Waters novels, and I would say this is the best. It was hard to get into it and I almost didn't bother to continue, but I slogged through and by the second half I looked forward to nightly reading. The ending was a great surprise, and I was left with my heart pounding and unable to sleep. The style of narrative is annoying in the beginning, but the rhythm soon makes itself clear. Worth the effort for a Victorian style novel. A similar theme of betrayal runs throughout the three books, but with enough variation to make it worth reading.

A story with gothic atmosphere, AFFINITY is set in 1875 London. The narrator, Miss Margaret Prior, is an upper class woman on the verge of turning 30, and when we become acquainted with her, she is making her first visit to Millbank Prison. She is to be the Lady Visitor-someone who comes to visit and motivate the pathetic denizens locked up for everything from petty crimes and prostitution to murder. Very quickly she becomes compulsively interested in a young woman, Selina Dawes, a spiritualist and medium in jail for harming a young girl and for involvement in the death of her benefactress.

Miss Prior's elaborate descriptions of Millbank, the incarcerated women, and her daily life at home soon reveal that she, too, is locked in her own private prison from which she has no way to escape. She's already had one "nervous" episode nearly resulting in her death. This followed the betrayal of a woman with whom she was smitten and the death of her dearly beloved father. She is a woman locked in a world with social mores that do not allow her to be herself-nor even to know who her real Self is. Only Selina has managed to introduce a little magic into her life.

With each passing week, the story builds in intensity as Miss Prior visits the dismal Millbank and attempts to see Selina Dawes as often as possible. Though she fights it, little by little, she surrenders to her feelings for the other woman. Will Selina manage to escape and will Miss Prior assist? Is the young woman truly innocent and wrongly convicted? We get clues from periodic diary entries made by Selina, but the mystery of the spiritualist's past is not revealed until the end.

AFFINITY has a feel much like the gothic novels of old, and the style and tone made me wonder if Waters could possibly be the spiritual daughter of Emily Brontë and Mary Shelley. The story's impact quietly creeps up on the reader until the surprising denouement, which, though it seems to come out of the blue, I realized I should have seen coming. I found myself thinking of this novel and Miss Prior's horrendous predicament for weeks. AFFINITY leaves a mark.
~Lori L. Lake, Reviewer for Midwest Book Review, [ ], and The Independent Gay Writer.

In a novel whose plot revolves around a spisterish lady in 19th century England who visits prisoners at the goal (prison), Waters shines as an author. Margaret Prior visits those lonely souls at the gaol in Victorian England where she meets Selina Dawes, a self-professed medium/spiritualist in prison for doing harm to a young girl and causing the death of her hostess. Reading this book I wondered to myself if Sarah Waters hadn't perhaps been in communication or channeling the spirits of Anne Radcliffe and/or Jane Austin as she was writing. Affintity is a sensous novel delicately written in a hybrid of gothic and Victorian styles with the sensibility of the 21st century. Waters' writing style is beautiful, her prose luminescent and descriptive without being overly descriptive as to take away from the plot. This novel is creepy, with high tension without being melodramatic or artificial. In short I happily recommend this novel to readers no matter what their tastes normally run to, it is suitable and appealing on many levels, to an eclectic audience. So if you're looking for a good Victorian novel but have read all the Bronte Sisters' and Austin's not to mention many other fine female novelists of the period go read AFFINITY.