Fingersmith

loved this “off the wall” book. Completely unexpected turn of events at almost every turn.

Since “Fingersmith” was published over two decades ago, the folded white gloves gleaming from a rich brocade table have both beckoned and dismissed me. Sometimes, I build up a book in my head when I should just pick it up and read it. So, now that it has been a few years since cozying up with a nice Victorian book, I finally decided to open up “Fingersmith” this cold, snowy January. I was hooked in almost right away by the unusual favor shown young Susan Trinder, by the warm and riotous kitchen at Mrs. Sucksby's ramshackle London house, and by the colorful language. Relatively quickly, we learn that Susan is to be involved in a carefully-laid swindle and that she must throw off her coddled upbringing and try to act. From there, Waters leads us in and and out of winding passageways, streets, and roads, winding up more than one delightful twist. You know an author has you in the palm of their hand when you put down a book after you've been shocked by a turn of events. The real fingersmith is Sarah Waters herself, tricking you with slights of hand.

Recently, I have been oppressed by authors who throw in point-of-view changes to try to make the plot or characters more interesting, but fail by creating fluffy filler often devoid of a true, separate voice and mind. Fingersmith is a great example of how multiple points-of-view ought to be done; Waters knows how to situate the reader in more than one character's head, even if I was jarred each time there was a switch.

Waters states quite clearly that the basic plot of “Fingersmith” was stolen (her words!) from Wilkie Collins' wonderful and, at the time it came out, sensational “The Woman in White.” Waters has expanded the story to a delightful level, weaving in more characters and taking us into places “TWIW” did not. And the author has given us the true point of view of women of the time, who were often pawns and had little power of their own, who often had to wait seemingly interminable amounts of time, which many modern readers cannot fathom. And, intentionally, Waters brings us into the feelings and thoughts of women who love another woman at a time it was not allowed. To show the reader often-ignored lesbian history.

Now. Let's say you have never read Dickens or “The Woman in White.” This book is just as enjoyable a romp through grimy 1860s London and out to a crumbling country estate, which we learn is more of a prison than the relative poverty and constant grift of the house of a band of thieves.

Booker interview with Sarah Waters 20 years after publication with interesting peaks into her writing process, inspiration, and even discarded story ideas: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/fingersmith-at-20-inside-the-archive-with-sarah-waters

This book has such an interesting layout, all you think you know gets flipped sideways. And, once your hooked, you cannot do anything else but read until you get to the end.

Fingersmith is one of the most riveting books I've ever read. It's atmospheric as hell, absolutely seeping with yearning, and has multiple twists that left me absolutely shocked. From beginning to end, I was absolutely enthralled, and on those merits alone, it would be worth reading.

But Fingersmith is more than just an engaging book; Waters' explorations of women's sexuality and agency in a deeply patriarchal society are extremely effective. Some of the plot twists came off feeling slightly forced, but this wasn't enough to significantly impact my experience reading, and the twists that land absolutely land. Absolutely recommended.

2/5 - I feel like I did not read the same book as everyone else. I found Fingersmith to be far too long, overly descriptive and repetitive. Part 2 being a complete repeat of the events of Part 1 just from a different POV felt completely unnecessary and really didn't add anything imo. However, I did enjoy the unique premise of the book just wish it was better executed.

4.5! The Handmaiden is one of my absolute favorite movies, and despite knowing all the twists already (or so I thought) the book was still gripping and surprising and kept me on my toes. Drags a bit in part 3 but the ending saves it. Lesbian Charles Dickens indeed!

I think I'm just maybe not that into historical fiction. Sarah Waters also has this habit (I say having only read two of her books) of making all the characters unlikeable and hard to root for. Tbh I preferred the movie, but this was compelling and entertaining and dark and had sapphics so there's always points for that.

If you're into lesbian Victorian romances, con artists, and pornography, this is your jam!

Sue is a petty thief who is enlisted to help a conman steal the inheritance of a wealthy girl, but as time goes on, it becomes clear that there's a lot more to the grift.

The story is told from the perspectives of two different protagonists, with each showing a totally different view of what's going on. There are a few surprising plot twists, most notably the shocker at the end of part one.

Sarah Waters is a gifted wordsmith, with flowing prose and characters who are empathetic despite being awful people. The problem is the plot. Even back in the 1800s, it seems like there are way too many ways where this plot would fail. And in the end, Waters doesn't know how to resolve it, so she brings a surprise conclusion out of nowhere and resolves precisely nothing.

The book spends 500 pages building up a plot, backs itself into a corner, and then concludes it in the most contrived way possible. To say the last act was a letdown is an understatement.

Waters has definitely improved her pacing skills since this book. It dragged on for me, to the point of unenjoyable. The twists were really great, and some of them were such a knife to the heart. I wasn't overly impressed with the ending, though I appreciated the glimpse of happiness they could have. Overall, not my favorite.

Sometimes she would close her eyes. 'How well you know me,' she might say. 'I think you know the turning of all my limbs.'

2 stars

This was my first Sarah Waters and it may very well be my last, unless someone wants to convince me otherwise. Maybe it was my mistake reading this during the dark dreary parts of winter, but this was just absolutely miserable. While I loved bits of the relationship between Sue and Maud, I found most of the characters themselves to be incredibly irritating. Sometimes it felt like we were spending full chapters watching them just mope. I think that I would have enjoyed this more if a lot had been cut out; at some points it truly just dragged.

I'll try to stay vague to avoid spoilers, but I also really struggled to suspend my disbelief when it came to some of the twists. I don't need my fiction to be 100% realistic, but there were moments where I just thought, “Really?? You expect me to believe they got away with this?” At first I was impressed with how Waters managed to catch me by surprise, but eventually it felt more like she was trying to write something as complicated as possible regardless of how much sense it made.

That being said – I do see what others could enjoy in this. Sometimes I think I find myself a little too empathetic when it comes to reading fictional POVs, which means I can struggle with darker content. This book really pulled me down into its mood and was a difficult reading experience. I did enjoy the Victorian lesbian romance as well as the commentary on women's lack of agency. I think it would have made a big difference if I didn't feel so, well, miserable reading it. I do think this is worth trying if you enjoy historical fiction and are looking for something sapphic and mysterious, but just be prepared for some sob stories.

Yes, this is a good yarn, but for something plot-driven like this (twist! twist! twist!) this could have profited from some major trimming. Once the reader is in on the twist and clearly understands the character motivations, there's clearly no need for scenes stretched this long.

Also possible that the highly accented voices in the audiobook caused me to get rather annoyed at some of the characters.

One the greatest things I have ever read.

The plot was excellent, but this book suffered from the weightiness of the prose and exposition.

Sue Trinder is an orphan growing up in the house of Mrs Sucksby, where they get by with petty crimes and selling stolen goods. It's also an informal grooming and gathering place for a number of crooks, the most elegant and big-game of all is one nicknamed Gentleman, who enlists Sue to assist him in a plot he has recently hatched to cheat a lady, the heiress of a hermit book collector, out of her fortune. To do so, Sue has to infiltrate the household and become a lady's maid to Maud Lilly, and convince her to marry Gentleman.

While the story was really good, I think the pacing was a bit off for me. The first arc was all right, it plodded along but it got unpleasant to read at the last part, to the point where I almost DNFed. Then we got hit with the first big reveal. It was a twist which I had called from the beginning, but which I had somehow lulled myself into thinking wasn't possible and therefore had forgotten about, but was surprised to find that I was right all along. That was enough to keep me going though.

The second arc was more exciting for me than the first, or at least the first half of it was. The second half kinda got too lengthy (did we really need like 20 pages talking about Maud's failed attempts at escaping, her going to find Mr Hawtry which landed her in a "house for destitute gentlewomen" and then eventually her going back to where she had begun?). The third arc was the slowest for me and which I skimmed the most, even though so many things were happening.

It's a weird feeling, because the plot twists in this story were really good and satisfying, but there was also just so much filler action IMO. Despite skimming the heck out of the third arc, I still understood the rough gist of what was happening. I can't help but feel that this book would've been way more enjoyable if it had been pruned into 300 or 400-page novel rather than a 550-page one.

3.5

I have now read three of Sarah Waters' novels. This is my second favourite. My favourite is The Night Watch.

I haven't read a book so fast in so long. It had taken over my mind and heart for the duration, and I just couldn't leave it. I can't recommend this book enough, the style is beautiful and the plot is enthralling. A beautiful book.

I could not put this down. I literally spent all day on 12/30 just reading this. 400+ pages in one day, because I couldn't bear to part with it (thank you, Xmas/NYE vacation for giving me the slack to do it!).

This is hard to describe, and I want to avoid spoilers. I can say that it starts in a Dickensian setting, has a Gothic, crumbling mansion, a Victorian madhouse, a love story, and plenty of twists & turns. Even when I kind of knew where it was going, it was thrilling to see things play out! Sometimes it dealt with some disturbing content (child abuse, conditions in the asylum, etc.), but it was worth toughing it out!

Overall, it was an extremely satisfying read, Sarah Waters is a genius, and I can't wait to read her other stuff.

(Also, I had the lovely surprise of thinking, “Man, they need to make a movie of this,” only to find it has been adapted TWICE - a BBC miniseries and a Korean film by Park Chan-wook!)

Brilliant twisting tale

Story starts traditionally but takes some unexpected and delightful turns. Loved the descriptions of places and characters. Very glad I picked this one up.

Yeah, what could possibly go wrong with an idea like that?

???It's a curious, wanting thing.???

4.5 stars

lesbian dickens?????????? bithc this was better than any dickens i've ever read

it was totally not what i expected to be honest (i wasn't entirely sure what to expect) but what i got was a thrilling tale about a scam, many gloves, mystery and SNEAKY GIRLS. i loved the way the story was built up, told through multiple perspectives so you never quite knew what was going on. i love my girls both equally they deserve all my love (and also all of each other's love) so. there's that.

I DON'T WANT TO SAY ANYTHING MORE BECAUSE IT'S JUST A WASTE OF SPACE AND I DON'T WANT TO GIVE ANYTHING AWAY SO Y'ALL SHOULD JUST READ THIS OKAY

I loved this book from beginning to end, and it's taken me two days to sit down to write this little review because I'm not sure what to say here besides, “I loved this book!” It took me a whole month to read it since this was a big book, almost 600 pages, and lately I've been reading shorter books, and I'm also a slower reader, so please don't think that this is a slow read or a boring read. This book is intense in a lot of ways. Even though it's long, there are many scenes where a lot is going down and you won't want to stop reading. So what's it all about? Well, I guess I could loosely call this a period mystery, but it's more of just a character study. I don't want to say too much since this story has many many twists and turns, and all of it is highly enjoyable. It takes place in and around London in the late 19th century, which is basically my favorite time period. The writing is descriptive and layered. I loved every page of this story.

I really, really enjoyed this book, until... I want to give this story more than three and a half stars but hand on my heart, I just can't. The first 4/5 of the book were brilliant with twists and turns that I didn't see coming but then the whole thing turned into a cheesy romance. In some ways the ending was appropriate to the gothic romance style of the story but I felt the final few pages deserved something better. Whereas the rest of the story took unexpected turns the ending was entirely predictable. I think I will have to digest it for a while and see if I change my mind but for now I feel that the ending wasn't up to the rest of the story.

For to be brave about a thing like that, you must first be sorry. And how could I be sorry, for someone I never knew?




But tonight, all things are out of their order, all my patterns have been disturbed. My liberty beckons: gaugeless, fearful, inevitable as death.

 



But there are as many different ways of being mad, after all, as there are of being crooked.




Some were perfect maniacs. Two or three, like Betty, were only simpletons. One liked to shout bad words. Another threw fits. The rest were only miserable: they walked, with their eyes on the floor, and sat and turned their hands in their laps, and mumbled, and sighed.

 



But you see, I'm afraid you must be mad, since you are here. There is something queer about us all. You need only look about you. You need only look at yourself.

Whew... that was an emotional rollercoaster.

Overwrought. Contrived.

The ending didn't fit my understanding of the characters. It was totally unbelievable for me. Suddenly everything works out because one of the characters has a sudden change of heart? What.

It wasn't a bad read, but it would have been better at 200 pages or so.