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A review by homeriser
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
4.0
this was my second Sarah Waters book, the first one being Fingersmith, which i fell in love with deeply. this one, on the other hand, i didn’t feel very connected to, i think, because i didn’t care for the characters at all. i experienced and enjoyed Nancy’s yearning, feelings and desire for Kitty, but found, after that all, that I very much despised the latter, all the way up to their last scene together. i feel for her, seeing no development at all on her part, but also think it served to make Nancy’s stronger and all the more meaningful.
the characters i did enjoy, ended up weaving in and out of the story as well as Nancy’s life, my favorites being Billy-Boy, the lady from the Green Street house and her daughter (who i’m pretty sure was autistic, and very wholesome), Zena, and most of all, Florence and Ralph.
despite my inability to connect to the characters, i thoroughly enjoyed the depiction of the London queer scene, especially how we view it through various different lenses throughout the (many!) phases in Nancy’s life.
in regards to the final scenes, where Nancy finds herself among all the women she’s been with, to which i saw a lot of people disliked and regarded as cheesy or out of place, i found that i actually liked it. Tipping The Velvet, while being the story of Nancy’s discovery and understanding of her sexuality, is also about the blooming and evolution of her relationship with the stage as well as the art of presenting, and as readers, we’re constantly reminded of her viewing and moving through life as if it were her own spectacle, and i thought the ending quite fitting, as if seeing the whole cast for the last time before the curtains close.
overall, i enjoyed it. seeing gay girls referring to their girlfriends as sweethearts sure added a couple of years to the spectacle of my own life.
also, i’d marry Flo in a heartbeat.
the characters i did enjoy, ended up weaving in and out of the story as well as Nancy’s life, my favorites being Billy-Boy, the lady from the Green Street house and her daughter (who i’m pretty sure was autistic, and very wholesome), Zena, and most of all, Florence and Ralph.
despite my inability to connect to the characters, i thoroughly enjoyed the depiction of the London queer scene, especially how we view it through various different lenses throughout the (many!) phases in Nancy’s life.
in regards to the final scenes, where Nancy finds herself among all the women she’s been with, to which i saw a lot of people disliked and regarded as cheesy or out of place, i found that i actually liked it. Tipping The Velvet, while being the story of Nancy’s discovery and understanding of her sexuality, is also about the blooming and evolution of her relationship with the stage as well as the art of presenting, and as readers, we’re constantly reminded of her viewing and moving through life as if it were her own spectacle, and i thought the ending quite fitting, as if seeing the whole cast for the last time before the curtains close.
overall, i enjoyed it. seeing gay girls referring to their girlfriends as sweethearts sure added a couple of years to the spectacle of my own life.
also, i’d marry Flo in a heartbeat.