A BBC TWO BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK (BOOKER PRIZE GEMS)
The book that inspired Park Chan-wook’s astonishing film The Handmaiden.
Shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Booker Prize
London 1862. Sue Trinder, orphaned at birth, grows up among petty thieves – fingersmiths – under the rough but loving care of Mrs Sucksby and her ‘family’. But from the moment she draws breath, Sue’s fate is linked to that of another orphan growing up in a gloomy mansion not too many miles away.
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Reviews
Calls to mind the feverishly gloomy haunts of Charlotte and Emily Bronte... Elaborate and satisfying
A sweeping read
There are always novels that you envy people for not having read yet, for the pleasure they still have to come. Well, this is one. Long, dark, twisted and satisfying, it's a fabulous piece of writing... An unforgettable experience
Astonishing narrative twists
A thrillerish plot, fast-moving with umpteen cunning twists, it is inhabited by richly human characters whose fortunes instantly engage the reader
This disquietingly twisted tale will engross
Superb storytelling. Fingersmith is gripping; so suspenseful and twisting is the plot that for the last 250 pages, I read at breakneck speed
A marvelous pleasure... Waters's noted attention to historical detail and her beautifully sensitive dialogue help to anchor the force-five plot twisters
Fingersmith is the third slice of engrossing lesbian Victoriana from Sarah Waters. Although lighter and more melodramatic in tone than its predecessor Affinity, this hypnotic suspense novel is awash with all manner of gloomy Dickensian leitmotifs
A chilling, ingenious erotic thriller - unputdownable
Totally immersive with brilliantly drawn characters... a page-turning thriller while managing to be a tender love story
Oliver Twist with a twist... Waters spins an absorbing tale that withholds as much as it discloses... A pulsating story
She distils a slice of London Victoriana, involving pickpockets, orphans and identity, into a fantastic plot and handles the story so well that you just can't wait to get to the end
Fingersmith's tight and intricate plotting and full-flavour characters follow in a fine tradition of gothic storytelling, full of love, villains and intrigue
Intensely atmospheric, impeccably paced, and cunningly structured, this is that rarity in contemporary fiction: a deeply serious novel that is also a thumping great read
A deftly plotted thriller... absorbing and elegant
A richly woven tale of duplicity and passion... nobody writing today surpasses the precocious Waters's virtuosic handling of narrative complexity and thickly textured period detail. This is a marvelous novel
Deliciously brazen... A smart and seductive enchantment
One of the best twists of any book, one that lifts the novel from a brilliant piece of modern Victoriana to something altogether more original and daring... Fingersmith, like so many great books, calls into question our desire to fit novels into restrictive boxes... If you like a great story, brilliantly told, you'll love this book
Serious entertainment... One of the most startling plot twists you'll ever read
High spirited and utterly compelling