Review: Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters

Title: Tipping the Velvet
Author: Sarah Waters
Date Begun: June 2, 2007
Date Completed: June 3, 2007

I quite enjoyed Tipping the Velvet. I've meant to read it for several years, but it took watching the miniseries to spur me on and actually buy it. (So much historical fiction with lesbians, so little time. Or something.) Nancy, the protagonist, is engaging and likeable. But she was far from perfect, thankfully. She is a strong narrator, both resilient and humorous and often unexpectedly sweet.

Indeed, characterization is probably the biggest draw. I enjoyed reading about all the characters. None of Nancy's lovers are perfect, but they're all understandable. Even Diana, who is kind of frightening (Anna Chancellor did a great job with the role in the adaptation) has a sort of draw which reaches out through the pages of the book. It's not wonder Nancy is entranced by her. Florence, who becomes her dream girl, is far from perfect, but certainly enjoyable despite that. I enjoyed the way Waters brings in socialism towards the end of the novel, but I have a big kink for socialists so, um, right.

But the inclusion of socialism brings me to an important point about Tipping the Velvet. If you were to read a summary of the novel, it would all seem more than improbable. Somehow, the twists of the plot all work. Some of them definitely shouldn't work, but Waters has an amazing ability to pull it all off. Once disbelief is suspended, it stays that way. So well done. It's a very densely plotted novel, and the tension dissipates just when it ought to and not a moment before.

Still, Tipping the Velvet was not quite the erotic read I'd expected. Perhaps fanfiction has ruined me. There was really very little titillation, which I suspect had something to do with the writing style. I suppose I'd thought to read something more langorous and sultry, but because of the first person narration and Nancy's characterization, the finished product is fairly conversational. It's an entertaining and sometimes scandalous letter from a high school friend, rather than the Marquis de Sade's memoirs.

Tipping the Velvet at Amazon.com