Customer Reviews

Tipping the Velvet

5 star:		(111)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

When I heard about this book, I thought, "Victorian-era erotica? I don't think so!" But in the end, it turns out that my thirst for totally engrossing, wonderfully entertaining, and incredibly well-written lesbian fiction has at last been quenched. Nearly 500 pages was barely enough of Waters' evocative tale of Nancy Astley, aka Nan King, and her life and times as a newly out "tom" (surely the 19th-century English equivalent of "dyke"), a male-impersonating prostitute, a kept "boy," and finally a self-realizing adult. The sights, smells, sounds, tastes of turn-of-the-century England were so brilliantly captured that I couldn't wait to take the subway somewhere, anywhere, so that I could sit down and read without anyone bothering me! The novel is an erotic and emotional triumph. I can't wait to read Affinity, Waters' next...it's already sitting on my desk. If I haven't raved enough about this book, take my word that it's highly recommended.

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!!!

I have read two very,very good picaresque novels in my life and after Kate Vaiden and Huck Finn, there's Tom Jones, which is pretty good. Tipping the Velvet has the strength and earthy sensibility and observation of Twain, the poignant threads of Reynolds price plus--it's got some genuinely erotic bits, great style, history,panache and charm. It may cause straight women and men of all kinds to wish that they were lesbians (like the protagonist) but it is a book open to anyone literate. What a true Christmas pudding of a book.

This is a wonderful book. I couldn't put it down, and when I did have to, I couldn't wait to get back to it. It is an excellent view into Victorian England with great attention to detail. I felt such sympathy for Nan. Your heart will soar and break with hers. As another reader has written, I felt as if I was in the book myself; right alongside Nan. In the four days it took me to read this novel, nothing else in the world seemed to matter. It is so touching and compelling. Oh, and lest I forget, it's quite erotic as well. I hope for a sequel (are you reading this Ms. Waters?). Do yourself a favor and buy this book. Enjoy.

I bought this book almost a year ago when it first came out and then never had a chance to read it until recently. How I am sorry that I waited so long to do so. An incredible romp through the cities of England and the streets of London. Sarah Waters has a true gift for bringing characters to life. I found myself wanting to join Nancy on her journey. There are so many twists and turns that you are often left wondering "how is Waters going to get Nance out of this one?" And just as you think there is no hope and that our heroine will surely be lost forever, Waters pulls out all the stops and twists us around yet again into a loop that makes complete sense and leaves us wanting more.

The moment I finished reading Tipping the Velvet, I wanted to start all over again.

Lusty and lavish, richly embroidered and boldly rendered, Tipping The Velvet is an amazingly assured debut novel. With an eye for revelatory detail and pitch perfect idiomatic phrasing British writer Sarah Waters offers a riveting panorama of late Victorian England from the Dickensian wretchedness of poor houses to the marble floored villas of society's favored.

Tipping The Velvet, the title being a euphemistic reference to sexual activity, was hailed in England last year as a "lesbian classic." Perhaps so, for one becomes chillingly aware of the travails suffered by women who dared to challenge the orthodox views of 1890s London, whether it concerned sexual preference or adequate wages. Yet this novel is also that rarity - an exquisitely penned, rapidly paced, thoroughly entertaining tale that leaves the reader wanting more.

Eighteen-year-old Nancy Astley is an oyster girl in the bleak coastal town of Whitstable. She "scrubbed, and rinsed, and plied the oyster knife," all the while humming a music hall song. "Music hall songs and the singing of them" were her passion until she met Miss Kitty Butler, a cross-dressing singer. Then Kitty became her passion.

When Kitty is offered an opportunity on the stages of London, Nancy follows as her dresser, wondering "how it would be to live at Kitty's side, brim-full of a love so quick, and yet so secret, it made me shake".

In short time Nancy pulls on her first pair of trousers, clips on braces and joins Kitty on stage. As a twosome the act is a smashing success, until the night a drunk in the audience jeers, calling them "toms." Anxious to protect her reputation, a frightened Kitty quickly marries, and a heartbroken Nancy flees to the streets.

Penniless and alone, she dresses as a male prostitute and becomes a "renter," hustling for sovereigns in the Burlington Arcade or through Leicester Square. Nancy describes her situation with detached bravura: ".....the world of actors and artistes, and the gay world in which I now found myself working, are not so very different. Both have London as their proper country, the West End as their capital. Both are a curious mix of magic and necessity, glamour and sweat."

Later, on a dark and chill night when Nancy has not "earned so much as a three-penny bit," a lace-curtained brougham approaches, and she is picked up by Diana, a wealthy widow, who takes the young "renter" to her sumptuous home, Felicity Place. Diana grooms Nancy to be her kept "tart," then exhibits her before a coterie of sapphic friends.

Indignity is heaped upon indignity by the imperious, controlling Diana, until she drives Nancy from her home.

Once again penniless and dispossessed Nancy finds refuge in the home of Florence Banner, a selfless charity worker, a Socialist with whom Nancy at last finds acceptance and then the love she has so desperately sought.

Ms. Waters is as adept at limning libidinous interludes as she is at crafting an absorbing narrative. All of this is abundantly clear in Tipping The Velvet, an affecting, memorable triptych in which she seamlessly interweaves searing eroticism and poignant self-discovery against painterly scenes of fin-de-siecle London.

A native of Wales, Ms. Waters is currently at work on her second novel. With Tipping The Velvet she has set an extraordinarily high standard for herself.

This book was stunning, absolutely stunning. It stirs your heart and you are wanting to know what happens next to the characters. Sarah Waters has created a fascinating world and a world that I loved inhabiting as I read this book.

Nancy Astley works in her family's oyster restaurant and goes to the weekends to the music halls. There, she meets Kitty Butler and they become fast friends. Kitty invites Nancy to be her dresser in London and it gets really fast past then. It goes from her being with Kitty, to having her heart broken by Kitty, then being a renter and living with the cruel Diana. To lastly, meeting a young socialist by the name of Florence. The characters, all of them, are intriguing. Nancy is a pillar of strength and Diana, though cruel, is definately interesting. Florence is the perfect girl for Nancy and Kitty. I have nothing but loathing for that character, because of what she did to Nancy.

The prose, reminded me of a cross between a modern novelist, Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde. It was highly engaging and it makes one feel as if they are with Nancy and seeing what she sees. As far as the Erotic goes, it is, definately. But I think what really makes it good is the relationships and seeing things through Nancy's eyes.

This is a must read for anyone, gay, straight or bi.

This novel was a glorious, stomach flipping journey into the life and career of a girl with a personality and passion like no other. From her days as a small-town hero-worshipper to her partnership with a musician, we follow Nat like we never want to lose her. This book appealed to my humanness as well as my sexuality. I felt every life-altering turn that Nat took as if I was living through it. my heart beat furiously from the beginning of the book to its comforting conclusion. I felt every decision she made and wanted to take her hand and tell her to come and live with me. I actually found myself wanting to jump into the book and join her on stage, and with Diana, and with Florence. This book is so beautifully crafted, I found it impossible to part with. Susan Waters has created such a masterpiece, that I found myself craving for life in the Gay 90s. Please, Miss Waters, keep them coming! A must-read for everyone, no matter what orientation!

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.

Before I go into my thoughts on Tipping... I noticed a reviewer who suspects Sarah Waters of really being a man. In case anyone else is curious, I can confirm that she is female! I've twice worked at author events of hers, and she is most definately a woman (and a lesbian as if you needed telling!)

Anyway. I really enjoyed this book. Apart from having a wonderfully readable prose style. Waters is a master of structure and plot - the story mixes erotica, sentimentality, darkness, humour and growth perfctly, and never repeats its own ideas.

The characters are like all Waters' characters in that they risk being dislikable, but always end up winning you over. Nan as the narrator is a wonderful character to take the reader through the sexual underworlds of Victorian London.

However, if you find you like this book don't expect Waters' other two to be similar! Affinity and Fingermith are involved, moody, dark and complicated, both employing elements of mystery (with big ol' twists). HAving said that - give Fingersmith a try: I loved it even more than Tipping.