Over the last few years I’ve been slowly working through Sarah Waters’ novels, beginning with Affinity, then moving on to Fingersmith, The Little Stranger and The Night Watch, all of which I’ve enjoyed. Her debut novel, Tipping the Velvet, was the only one I still hadn’t read so I was pleased to have the chance to read it as part of the Virago Book Club.
Tipping the Velvet is narrated by Nancy Astley, an eighteen-year-old girl who lives with her parents and sister in Whitstable, an English seaside town famous for its oysters. During the day Nancy works hard in her family’s oyster parlour but she also has a passion for the music hall and enjoys visiting the Canterbury Palace of Varieties to watch the dancers, acrobats and magicians. Nancy’s life changes forever one night in 1888 when she sees a new act at the Palace: a female singer, Kitty Butler, who dresses as a boy. Nancy is fascinated and decides Kitty is the ‘most marvellous girl’ she’s ever seen. She returns night after night to watch her performances, until eventually Kitty notices her.
The two become friends and travel to London together where Nancy joins Kitty on stage as part of her act and is transformed from Nancy Astley, oyster girl, into Nan King, music hall star. As the days go by, Nan finds her feelings for Kitty developing into love and at first it seems that Kitty might feel the same way about her. But soon Nan’s happiness is destroyed and having lost everything she sets out to start a new life, doing whatever she needs to do to survive.
As in her two later novels also set in the 19th century (Fingersmith and Affinity), Sarah Waters has created a wonderfully vivid and believable Victorian world, from the descriptions of the music halls – the songs, the costumes, the colourful characters – to the slang used on the streets of London and the portrayal of the Victorian gay and lesbian scenes. As a fan of historical fiction, every time I read one of Waters’ novels I’m impressed by the way she always includes enough historical detail to perfectly evoke the atmosphere of the period she is writing about (whether it’s the 1890s or the 1940s), while still keeping the focus on the story and the characters.
Tipping the Velvet describes a side of Victorian society that you would be unlikely to read about in the contemporary fiction of the period and explores themes such as sexuality, gender, lesbianism and prostitution. I should probably warn you that the sex scenes are very explicit – and there are a lot of them (a few too many for me, though I’m probably just a prude!) Having said that, these scenes never feel gratuitous; they are an important part of Nan’s story and add to our picture of who she is and what her life is like. Although she can sometimes be frustrating, Nan is an engaging narrator and her emotions are very real – we follow her through all her highs and lows, we experience her joy at falling in love and we feel her pain when her heart is broken. I didn’t always agree with the choices she made but I could admire her ability to completely rebuild her life over and over again in the hope of finally finding the true love and happiness she deserves.
I have now read all five of Sarah Waters’ novels and although I did enjoy this one, I think it suffered from being read last. As a debut novel it is mature and well-written and does compare well to her later work, but the others had plots that were more interesting to me personally which is why this one is probably my least favourite.
Tipping the Velvet is the latest Virago Book Club choice. I received a copy from Virago for review.
She Reads Novels 
I think this is my least favourite of hers too, although I still liked it a lot. She needs to publish a new one already! It makes me sad to have no more Sarah Waters to read. On a side note, I so love those new covers.
I’m sure I would have loved this book if it had been the first one of hers I’d read. I just didn’t think it was quite as good as the other four. I keep hoping to hear about a new Sarah Waters book too – I suppose we’ll just have to be patient!
I enjoyed this book and I also enjoyed the series on BBC television.
I remember the series being on television but I didn’t watch it. I would like to see it now that I’ve read the book.
I have not read this novel, so I don’t really know how the story develops, but if you enjoyed you might consider giving a chance to Walking in Pimlico by Ann Featherstone.
Thanks, Ludo. I haven’t read Walking in Pimlico but it does sound interesting.
This is a book, which I have not read. I enjoyed The Night Watch immensely and was a bit blah about The Little Stranger.
This is one of the books that I have been meaning to get round to, it might be on my shelf at home (currently at work) I never watched it when it was on TV but I remember all the fuss it did cause.
I hope you enjoy it when you get round to it. I remember the TV series causing some controversy too, even though I didn’t watch it.
I’m curious about the title – I feel like i should get the reference but I don’t!
It is explained somewhere in the book. I wasn’t sure what it meant either until I read it!
I haven’t read any of Waters’s books yet, and wasn’t actually sure where to start. However I do remember seeing a little of the series and liking it. Would you say this would be ok as an introduction, or should it be read later?
I didn’t like this one as much as her others, but they’re all very different. Fingersmith and Affinity have more exciting plots with lots of twists and turns, The Little Stranger is a great ghost story and The Night Watch is a fascinating portrayal of wartime London. I think any of her books would be ok to start with – it really just depends on what type of story you’re most interested in.
I am slightly curious about this one, although I think I might reread ‘Fingersmith’ first as I read that and ‘The Night Watch’ at Uni and enjoyed both, so maybe I’ll get to this one day
I would like to re-read Fingersmith at some point too. I read it so quickly the first time because I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. It probably deserves a slower re-read!
Whoa, we are reading Waters in the same order! I just finished an audio version of The Little Stranger and I have The Night Watch on my shelf and will be going after that one next. I’m quite excited. Also bummed that I didn’t put this one on my radar before the others as I will probably be disappointed, too.
I hope you enjoy The Night Watch. It has an unusual chronological structure but it was one of my favourites.
I love Sarah Waters, but I have avoided this book because I have a friend who disliked it. I’d like to read it and The Night Watch in 2012. I think Fingersmith is my absolute favorite of her novels, but I really liked Affinity as well. Like Ana, I hope she publishes something new soon!
I’d be interested to see what you think of this one if you do read it. I think you would enjoy The Night Watch though.
This is an author who has been regularly recommended to me, and I have a couple of her books on my to be read pile, but as yet haven’t read her, something I must try and rectify soon. Glad you have enjoyed her novels.
I hope you enjoy them too, Lindsay!
The only Waters’s novel I have read was The Little Stranger and while I enjoyed the writing style I found the story a little disappointing. I have been advised to try one he Victorian novels but not sure where to start.
I think Fingersmith is the best of her Victorian novels so that would be a good one to start with.
Thank you Helen, I have made a note of that.
Like you, I also read Tipping the Velvet after reading all of Waters’ other novels and it is probably my least favourite. However, it’s still a very strong debut. Fingersmith is probably the best in my opinion.
Yes, it’s a great debut and I’m sure I would have really loved it if I hadn’t left it until last.
I’ve not read anything by Sarah Waters, although I want to. I love Victorian settings, so I think I would like this one.
I love Victorian settings too but surprisingly I think it’s her two 1940s novels that I like the best.