Tipping the Velvet, by Sarah Waters

Purchased from Gay's the Word; the most fantastic all-LGBTQIA+ bookshop in Bloomsbury, London. Upon standing in front of the storefront, I declared to my friend: "I am in search of historical gays!" I wanted a story of incognito queers from decades; heck, CENTURIES passed. I wanted androgyny and bravery and a total disregard for strict social codes.

Oooooh boy, did Sarah Waters come THROUGH!

Tipping the Velvet follows Nancy Astley, as she falls in love with a performer at the music halls, Kitty Butler. Kitty dresses as a man in her act, and Nancy is completely enthralled by it all. Things escalate quickly and, after moving to London with Kitty, she finds that things aren't as simple as falling in love and building a life when you're both women. Nancy finds herself tumbling all over London, trying to find herself with one foot in one world, and one in another.

Nancy sees it all: cross-dressing, prostitution, rags and riches, sex, androgyny, homophobia, ostracisation, heartbreak, familial bonds - both blood and chosen - acceptance, social change... her world is a chaotic blur of over ground and underground cultures battling it out. Not once does Nancy even consider re-joining the straight-laced (pardon the pun) life she was born into, and she is heroic in her efforts to stand proudly and independently in her resolve. I admire her courage and tenacity; though I cringe at her greed and shallowness.

She is by no means a diamond in the rough, but is as scuffed and filthy as the rest of the world. And that's how she gripped me! She didn't necessarily deserve stability, sanctuary, and security any more than any other character in this book, so I just had to know whether or not she found it!

This book has a message of forgiveness; of personal growth, and understanding when to let go. It reminds us that we can build communities around us that make us feel whole and safe. As a queer individual, this is especially powerful, and I implore anyone who identifies under the LGBT+ umbrella to read this book! But no one under 18... it's a little graphic at times!

A new firm favourite; one of the best books I've read in YEARS!

- Sian

Paperback, £8.99. Find it in the fiction section!

Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters

Two girls, who know nothing of each other, are thrown together in their teenage years.  Sue has been raised by villains and thieves in what amounts to a "den" in the backstreets of London. She knows poverty and hardship, but, despite losing her own mother as a baby, knows she is loved by Mrs Suckersby, the brains of the criminal operation.

Maud has grown up under the care of her uncle, in a manor house in the countryside, totally isolated from the real world outside their estate. Maud has also lost her mum, but she is neither loved nor cherished by her uncle, who uses his niece to further his strange literary research.

Enter the handsome and enigmatic Gentleman.  He has a devilish plan to wheedle his way into Maud's life and heart, in pursuit of the family fortune which she will inherit on her eighteenth birthday, and Sue is a crucial part of his plan.

Sarah Waters is a master story-teller, and this tale is one of those rare books that I just couldn't wait to get back to, and was grateful for a long read (500 pages).  Bed-time got earlier and earlier as I was drawn deeper into the plot!  The relationship between the two girls is heart-warming, but at the same time that I was celebrating their friendship I was feeling Sue's guilt at being part of Maud's imminent downfall.

I really liked Sue, and I just wanted the Gentleman to disappear so that the girls could just settle into a quiet and peaceful existence together, giving and getting exactly what each deserved in their young but troubled lives.

But that wouldn't have made for much of a tale, would it?  Instead, Waters weaves a dramatic spider-web of deceit and betrayal, which leaves the reader heartbroken over the potential fate of both girls. And even though we learn early on in the story about Gentleman's dastardly deed, that's really just the start of the plot twists. 

- Jeanette

Paperback, £8.99. Find it in the Fiction section!