Tipping the Velvet

Locations
Call Number: BOCD Fiction
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	BOCD Fiction	4-week checkout	On Shelf

Unabridged.
Compact disc.
Narrated by Juanita McMahon.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Lesbian Romance submitted by Jen Chapin-Smith on July 23, 2013, 3:02pm Sarah Waters' fictional story of Nancy "Nan" Astley, who leaves her small-town family to become a male impersonator and singer in a variety show is entertaining and emotional. Nan soars to great heights and sinks very low in heart warming and heart wrenching scenes. Hang in there until the end of the book, as it is well worth-while.

Nan has relationships with more than one woman during her time in London, and the book has some "R" rated scenes. Readers are glad for Nan when she finds love and devastated with her when it goes awry.

Waters conducted a lot of research for the novel, which shows in its very accurate depiction of Victorian England, especially its lesbian community.

If you like the book (as I'm sure you will), watch the TV series of the same name.

A review of the book (not the audio CD) submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on June 27, 2014, 1:52pm (I know that how an author reads the book can have a huge impact on how you experience the story, so know that I only read the book, and did not listen to the CDs.)

I heard an author (Peter Brett, actually) say once that a story has three elements: setting, plot, and character, and that they need to be in balance. I also take that to mean that for me to like a book, I'm going to have to like (find value in) all three.

What Tipping the Velvet did incredibly well was the setting. Waters paints a picture of London in the late 1800's astonishingly well. It is vibrant and vivid. You can see, taste, and smell it, from its beautiful theaters to its seedy corners. This was clearly the best part of the book.

The plot, that is, the arc of what happens from beginning to end to the total set of characters including outside influences, covered a lot of ground in this book, which gave us a chance to see many different aspects of London and the experience of lesbians at the time, but it felt forced to me. It felt too much like Waters was trying to make sure that we knew everything about the research she had done.

And then there was Nan's character. Without saying too much, I didn't find the "big reveal" at the end to be believable. Too much came together too perfectly all at once, and Nan, who had mostly been pushed around all her life except for decisions about relationships (in which she had always been wrong or hurt), decides... something... and we're supposed to believe that "This Time Is Different." It flies in the face of the whole rest of her life.

So... not high on my list. Well written and easy enough to read, but not worth the time in my estimation.