Fingersmith | 
| Author: Sarah Waters
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $0.68
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Avg. Customer Rating:  149 reviews
Sales Rank: 9197
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 582
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 1573229725
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9781573229722
ASIN: 1573229725
Publication Date: October 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
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: pickpockets, orphans, grim prisons, lunatic asylums, "laughing villains," and, of course, "stolen fortunes and girls made out to be mad." Divided into three parts, the tale is narrated by two orphaned girls whose lives are inextricably linked. Waters's penchant for byzantine plotting can get a bit exhausting, but even at its densest moments--and remember, this is smoggy London circa 1862--it remains mesmerizing. A damning critique of Victorian moral and sexual hypocrisy, a gripping melodrama, and a love story to boot, this book ingeniously reworks some truly classic themes. --Travis Elborough, Amazon.co.uk
Product Description
In Victorian England, an orphan girl is sent to a country estate to work for-and ultimately woo-its young heiress, on behalf of a mysterious benefactor known as Gentleman.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 144 more reviews...
 Amazing Book July 14, 2008
I absolutely loved this book. This is the first book that I have read of her's and it is amazing. I would recommened this book to everyone. I have not seen then movie yet but I plan to. I hope that it is just as intriguing as the book.
More like 10 Stars. June 23, 2008
The fact that there was reference as Sarah Waters being very 'Dickensian' is what hooked me. I was curious to read a contemporary author who was graced with such a reference. What I got was an incredible reading experience. I don't want to sound trite, but my heart literally did race in excitement, yes I also cried and laughed.
The author gets us into both Sue and Maud's head, we are more invested in Sue but it is important that you can empathize with both. They truly have a story to tell, not to mention unravel. I wouldn't say that this is particularly fast-paced but the writing is just so compelling between setting up for pivotal scenes that you will not put the book down.
Character personality traits, values, interaction, conversations are natural and flow, no unnecessary information, all is relevant as it pertains to our rock solid feel for our characters, esp. for our Sue and also our ever developing and twisting plot. I think some of the most shocking instances in the book for me were just how far some of the secondary characters would go to acquire wealth. This is where I felt some Dickens, people so gritty, hard, deceitful, twisted that you could no way in heaven nor hell trust them. God, it was wonderful! Try as I might I'd hope that they'd do something nice but naaah, they were basically ready to sell you out or throw your body in a ditch if there was money to be had.
I am happy to say that I did get my HEA afterall. It is truly a love story and how very fateful their saga before their coming together, and god knows they deserved it.
Brilliant and Sensational, Makes you want more! June 7, 2008
If you're looking to escape from your normal life of boredom, loneliness, and desire for a more interesting life, Sarah Waters' novel, Fingersmith, is a satisfactory yet above average novel to read. Sue and Maud are two lonely girls from different ends of the Victorian spectrum. Sue is poor, orphaned, and abandoned while Maud is an heiress. Both are trapped by their life's circumstances, Maud must marry and Sue must become a criminal in order to survive. In the end, the two young girls develop a mutual attraction to each other. Waters' novel is quite a treat for those of us who seek Victorian romanticism while at the same time it's not for realists like myself. I prefer the realistic novels while this novel is not only realistic but yet it is sensual and the two young girls find themselves in a very difficult situation. Lesbianism was still forbidden in Victorian times even though it has been around forever. Sue and Maud must come to terms with their relationship. At first, the relationship just seems ideal much like a lesbian soap opera but not all relationships end as well or forever. We don't really know what happens to Sue and Maud after the novel is finished but we do want to know more. I would have loved to have seen them ten years after possibly together or apart. Did they last? Did they go their separate ways? Did they find love elsewhere? Maybe good books like Fingersmith makes us ask those questions about Sue and Maud about ourselves. The book is a great escapism from our own troubling realities. We live in a society that nobody is complete without a partner whether heterosexual or homosexual. Those of us who are alone are often under suspicion by our peers, relatives, friends, colleagues, etc. Sue and Maud's genuine love and affection for each other comes through in Waters' writing. But we all want the love and happines from finding a soul mate, we must ask ourselves if Sue and Maud are soulmates or kindred spirits. We can only use our imagination to determine the outcome. Maybe all is not well, maybe they went their separate ways. We all yearn to find love and happiness with someone but we must first find happiness with ourselves.
 Overrated but entertaining melodrama June 2, 2008
I read Fingersmith because it was included on a list of 1001 books to read before you die. While I enjoyed the tale, I found it to be light entertainment rather than a substantial, totally satisfying reading experience. Fingersmith is the story of a London lass brought up in a den of thieves who becomes involved in a plot to dupe an heiress out of her fortune. On the negative side, the plot is convoluted and the characterization of the two main characters, Sue and Maud, is weak (although brought up in two completely different environments they seem almost interchangeable.) On the positive side, the author does a very good job in creating a Dickensian London, replete with con artists, pornographers, and a chilling mad house. Also some of the other characters, notably Mrs. Suksby, are developed remarkably well. Overall, I found Fingersmith to be definitely worth reading because it is entertaining but I do not think it merits the five star reviews it achieved.
 great plot twists February 27, 2008
well...this book was wonderfully atmospheric (or maybe i'm just partial to mid-1800s london). it is divided into three parts, and i most enjoyed the first, and its narrator, sue. although the plot became a little convoluted and often dragged, the writing more than made up for the deficiencies.
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