Customer Reviews

Fingersmith

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Set in the Victorian slums of London, and subsequently the English countryside, this is a tale of twists and turns that make the heart patter. I won't go into any details on the plot as I think it would be very hard not to give any spoilers. This is, simply put, a brilliant book. The story oozes with atmosphere. It is an incredibly Dickensian tale with characters that are eccentric and deliciously evil. It turns out I had already seen the BBC dramatization so I knew some of the secrets but still I found myself reeling in amazement with each twist and turn the author dares to throw at the reader. Sarah Waters most certainly is a gutsy and brilliant storyteller. I want to run out and read every book she's written. Most definitely and highly recommended!

I decided to give this book a read after it made a critics 'top 10' list. Thus I picked up the book blind, having no idea who the author was nor what the premise of the included. Having just finished the book I can honestly say I was not disappointed.

Waters manages to capture the sights and sounds of Victorian England quite well. Details are richly rendered, and each character is developed such that the reader feels like they can almost reach out and touch them. Progressing through the book, the reader is left with a very different impression of what Victorian England might have looked like, as say compared to how Dickens's might have portrayed it.

Waters also does a fantastic job of keeping the reader on edge. Plot turns and twists ensure that this is one book the reader will not want to put down. Anyone who is interested in books centered around Victorian England, and/or who like books where the unexpected is almost the expected, should definitely give this book a read.

Since John Fowles's THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMEN three decades ago many British novelists have tried to recapture the style and feel of the great pageturners from the novel's heyday, the Victorian era, often with mixed results. Sarah Waters, like Charles Palliser, has carved out a career for herself almost wholly in this subgenre, and succeeds even more brilliantly than Palliser. Her latest novel, FINGERSMITH, beautifully recaptures the can't-put-it-down excitement of her literary forerunner Wilkie Collins, and narrates the story of a group of thieves who engineer a cruel plot to commit an heiress to a madhouse with real aplomb and skill. But the novel is even better than that: it brings out into the open social and cultural concerns Collins or Dickens could not have spoken about quite so directly (particularly pornography and same-sex eroticism), and shows great insight into the metafictional issues involved in reworking this subgenre of the sensation novel. I recommend this extremely highly.

After reading and enjoying Sarah Waters's previous novels, I knew Fingersmith would meet my expectations. However, I had no idea! Fingersmith, as usual, had the gorgeous, atmospheric qualities that I think is Sarah Waters's trademark. And of course, the writing is simply genius. But more than that, Fingersmith is fantastic -- this novel told a darn good story.

Set again in 19th century London, Fingersmith begins with Sue Trinder's tale as an orphan and a thief. She lives in a house filled with other orphaned babies and an assortment of pickpockets, or "fingersmiths," along with the lady of the house, Mrs. Sucksby, who took care of Sue since she was an infant. Now 17, Sue's opportunity to show her appreciation to Mrs. Sucksby finally comes -- in the form of Gentleman, a seedy con man and friend of the household. Gentleman is armed with a plan to make them all rich and enlists Sue as his helper. But things aren't always what they seem, and as the plan unfolds, all sorts of secrets and twists come unraveled.

Fingersmith is everything I had hoped it would be -- beautiful writing, a stunning cast of characters, and a riveting, compelling storyline. I was helplessly drawn into the slums of London as well as the drab, solemn English countryside where Sue and Gentleman spend their days spinning their treacherous web. I will admit that there weren't as many shocking surprises (for me, anyway) like Affinity, but this novel was much like Tipping the Velvet in how it pulls in the reader from the beginning with a rousing good story. I can't enough good things about Sarah Waters, her novels, and her talent. She's exceptional, and Fingersmith is nothing less than stellar.

Sarah Waters takes her readers on an engrossing journey set in 19th century London. A tale of love and betrayal written for the heart who has known both. Romantic, dark, brutal and triumphant...a joy to read.

I have become a great fan of Ms. Water's work. _Tipping the Velvet_ remains my all-time favorite, but this almost tops it -- Great fiction, no matter what your lifestyle. A richly detailed story of love and betrayal set in 1860's England.

The two heroines, Sue and Maud, live nearly parallel lives except for their social class. Sue grows up on the mean streets of London slums, Maud in the gilded cage of the English countryside. Both are confined by their circumstances, both seek a way out. When the opportunity presents itself in the form of a con man named Gentleman, they leap at the chance. Little do they now what his plan has in store for them.

Fingersmith is full of twists, each more surprising than the other. I got this on Mother's Day and finished it the following Thursday. I couldn't get enough!

This book left me breathless with admiration and enjoyment. I can think of no novelist writing today so accomplished on multiple levels as is Sarah Waters. Fingersmith is first a great story. The plot grabs the reader's attention from the beginning and remains compelling to the last word. Yes, it's a page-turner! But so much more.... The literary depth is extraordinary; the writing is flawless; the characters are perfectly drawn; the scholarship remarkable. Superlatives cannot adequately describe how interesting, intelligent, rich, wise, and just plain good this book is. Bravo!

Sarah Waters's third offering, Fingersmith, is one of those books that manages to sustain its pacing and interest throughout, despite any number of Dickensian twists and turns in the truly byzantine plot. The tone is dark and melancholy (although lighter than Affinity's), but there's always a glimmer of hope to keep you reading. Waters's pacing, setting, and characterization are among the most remarkable I've encountered.

The one thing that bothers me most about Waters's books is the public's and critics' tendency to lump them in with "lesbian fiction." What the heck is that? I'm not a lesbian, and I still find her books thoroughly engaging, interesting, riveting, and, frankly, fantastic. I'll read anything she writes, no matter what the sexuality of the characters....Highly recommended.

This is an incredible book. She takes you through so many twist and turns that it is impossible to put the book down. Wonderful writer!

Young Sue Trinder, a denizen of back-alley 1860's London, considers herself most fortunate, raised by the likes of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer" who oversees a dilapidated house of "fingersmiths" (pickpockets) and assorted petty criminals. After all, hasn't Mrs. Sucksby raised Sue as if she were her own daughter? So when Gentleman, a dapper con-artist, appears in the damp and murky kitchen of the house on Lant Street requesting Sue's assistance in a swindle with great potential, who can refuse? Mrs. Sucksby appreciates this opportunity for Sue to make her fortune (half of which will go to Mrs. Sucksby) and seventeen-year-old Sue agrees with a heavy heart, reluctant to leave the only security she's ever known. After rigorous practice as a "lady's maid", Sue leaves London with Gentleman bound for the quiet countryside, well-rehearsed for her entry into polite society. Her assignment is to please Gentleman's "mark", the heiress Miss Maud Lilly, and gain her confidence.

As with Water's previous novel, AFFINITY, the reader settles willingly upon a spider web as skillful and innovative as any this author has written. Everything seems obvious on the surface, and yet nothing is ever as it first appears. With a firm grip, Waters draws her readers into unimaginable situations, through frightful experiences and harrowing ordeals, only to surface inside-out at the turn of a page. The original shock is delivered at the beginning of the second half of the novel, but from then on, beware. Peopled with villainous "gentlemen", cruel servants and warped intentions, this is a dangerous world, to be navigated with utmost caution, ready to scream bloody murder. And only Sarah Waters can deliver you safely.