Customer Reviews

Tipping the Velvet

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have seen the movie and that's what really has made me want to read the book, so far the book is exactly like the movie and very tastefully written

Every book by Sarah Waters is art. She just sucks you in, completely puts you into the time period about which she is writing and makes you forget about the dinner in the oven. Plus, she fills her books with dirty lesbian sex. Really, they couldn't be any better.\

Props to Ms Waters! (just in case she checks this page. she probably doesn't. If I had published books, I would check my own amazon page frequently, but I am vain like a parakeet.)

This book was fascinating. I read the other reviews prior to buying the book. It wasn't what I was expecting, it was so much more.

I am a big "Oliver" fan, so life in Victorian Era England holds a special interest to me. To read about the lesbian lifestyle of that era was amazing. The author brought the era and the lifestyle to life for me.

I was surprised when I found myself feeling rather unsympathetic towards the main character (Nancy) mid-way through the book. I don't remember ever finishing a book in which I felt unsympathetic towards the main character. While I felt unsympathetic towards Nancy, I still cared for her. I found that very surprising. Yes, I cared very much for Nancy.

This was a wonderful novel. I had to finish it in only two sittings. Then promptly went on-line to purchase Sarah Walters two other books.

I was surprised by some reviews that felt disappointed with the book. However, based on their reviews, I believe they were looking for something that was not there. I didn't find the hot explicit sex scenes that were indicated. That's not to say there wasn't sex, but it was primarily a book about a character and her personal growth. It is not a hot/steamy novel. Just a very good, complex and complete novel.

I was skeptical when I picked up "Tipping The Velvet" at a local bookstore. I do not like labels, and Sarah Waters's first novel had been touted by the press, and readers alike, as a "lesbian novel," whatever that means. However, the book's synopsis on the back cover, drew me in and I took a chance and bought it. I am so glad that I did. What a delight!

This is a historical novel, set in a Victorian England that few have glimpsed. And "Tipping The Velvet" allows us to view it all, center stage. It is a story peopled with characters that are fleshed out so believably, it is almost like reading with 3-D glasses. The characters, especially Nancy Astley, come right off the page and have the capacity to touch your heart and make you care...deeply.

Nancy is born and raised in an English seaside resort where her parents own an oyster restaurant, and Nancy can shuck with the best of them. She seems perfectly content with her lot in life, loves her family and imagines that someday she will marry one of the neighborhood boys and have a family of her own. During the summer months, when business is booming, Nancy frequents a nearby town's music hall for entertainment. Thus Passion enters her life with a capital "P."

Nancy sees a male impersonator perform for the first time on an evening excursion to the hall. Not just any male impersonator...but the ever so seductive Miss Kitty Butler. Nance is entranced and obsessed with Kitty. She schemes to meet the object of her devotion and becomes first, Kitty's friend, then her employee/girl Friday. Her once normal life is turned topsy-turvy, filled with passionate fantasies. Her family is delighted with Kitty "the celebrity" friend, and accepts her completely. However, Alice, Nancy's sister, and until recently her best friend, is hostile and suspicious of the relationship between her sister and the performer. With the changing seasons, business falls off and Kitty is on the move. She takes Nancy with her to a newer and bigger gig in London, where our heroine loses her innocence, in more ways than one. Adventure, disillusionment and major heartbreak loom on the horizon for our Nancy - until she finds herself reaching rock bottom. If you don't know what "rock bottom," sometimes called "the pits," is in Victorian England, you may want to reread Dickens.

It takes seven years for Nancy to climb out of the pit she fell into, (or was she pushed?), and fashion a life for herself. Her attempts to earn a living wage are outrageous, fascinating and ingenious. The folks she meets along the way are absolute originals. The take on London's local color, sexual and socialist politics, and social and sexual mores are delicious.

Sarah Waters is an extraordinary writer and teller of tales. This is so much more than a book about a woman's sexuality...although sexuality is an important aspect of the novel. Ms. Waters writes about the fight for selfhood and independence in a world where these terms mean little, especially for a female. I just couldn't put this one down and look forward to reading more work by Ms. Waters. I give this my most highly recommended seal of approval!!!

As a 17 year old girl, and a lesbian at that, I have been on a quest to find the best in film and in fiction. Luckily enough, I was able to watch Tipping the Velvet on the BBC when it aired for the States. It was very good and British (it didn't push as many buttons as one could wish.) After seeing this, I had to read the novel! But the book was not what I had expected it to be, as all book-to-movie things go. Yes, it had sex and maybe lewd at times, but the ending, I'd say, was all worth it. I'm a romantic at heart and it just hit it. Hell, I cry during every intimate sex scene in a lesbian film i.e. When Night Is Falling or Fire (all of Fire made me cry come to think of it.) I feel, if your just looking to read a long lesbian fiction novel that ends happily then this is your find. But really, if your just wanting to nit pick, if you will, at the language or knowingly guess what will come next, read it anyway! Nancy is a character who you will laugh and cry with, and at times even want to hit because she seems so childish. It took me a week to read, but I'm always busy and the moments that were left without the textured paper against my thumbs and first fingers were excruciating and left me feeling anxious and rather gloomy. So, don't put it down as I had, even if it's two in the morning and you're on your second cup of coffee trying to find out if Nan will... (fill with anything.)
A Great Read!

I have read numerous so-called "lesbian" books, and this is by far the best. I have just ordered her other novels for my collection.

I absolutely love this book! I have read it over 4 times and have only had it two years. It brings me to a world I would have once loved to live in. Once you read it you wont want to put it down.

Finally, kids, a writer who doesn't dumb down the language. Sarah Waters' debut novel is full of complex and lyrical language. I thoroughly enjoyed this read because even slow, more expository parts of the book were so beautifully written that I didn't mind the wait. The language alone is enough to rate this 5 stars, but beyond that, it actually has a wonderful story as well, with complex, well-thought out characters. Moreover, Waters did her homework on Victorian London, and everything you read is easily imagineable because it is so deftly written. All in all, one of the best books I've ever read.

I have read Sarah Waters' books (Tipping the Velvet, Affinity and Fingersmith) and have read Tipping the Velvet twice. I am planning on reading Affinity again, because I can not seem to get enough of her writings.....does anyone know when her next book is being published or if there is a next book? I am hooked on Victorian England literature and have not been able to find any other novels that compare to Sarah's vivid descriptions....Truly 3 works of art.

"Tipping the velvet" can be rather explicit at times,which as far as I'm concerned is only an added bonus,but would not alone makes a worthy read.This book fortunately has much more to offer:a great insight into the world of victorian england(late 19th century),colorful(quite rainbow like)characters and most important a terrific heroine Nancy King,who leaves her home and enbarks on an amazing journey throughout various social circles and surroundings of London.Sarah Walters is a captivating writer with an uncanny descriptive abilities,you might feel suddenly transformed a 100 or so years back,but it is Nan King,who will not let you put this book down,as you follow the story of a girl,who tips the velvet