Tipping the Velvet

By: Sarah Waters

Narrated by: Juanita McMahon

'Piercing the shadows of the naked stage was a single shaft of rosy limelight, and in the centre of this was a girl: the most marvellous girl - I knew it at once! - that I had ever seen.'

A saucy, sensuous and multi-layered historical romance, Tipping the Velvet follows the glittering career of Nan King - oyster girl turned music-hall star turned rent boy turned East End 'tom'.

©1998 Sarah Waters (P)1998 W F Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"An unstoppable read, a sexy and picaresque romp through the lesbian and queer demi-monde of the roaring Nineties. Imagine Jeanette Winterson on a good day collaborating with Judith Butler to pen a Sapphic Moll Flanders. It's gorgeous" ( Independent on Sunday)

"She is an extremely confident writer, combining precise, sensuous descriptions with irony and wit. This is a lively, gutsy, highly readable debut" ( Observer)

Entertaining

I remember reading this years and years ago, and I remember loving it. I had forgotten however how whiny the main protagonist is. And selfish. It is of course part for her story arc, but it does grate on my nerves when I listen to it again.

The writing however is outstanding. It's so vivid I can imagine every single scene as if I was there. The sex, or as we call it in the fanfic world, smut, is good. Almost on par with some of the raunchier fics I've read. And that's saying a lot.

Extra plus for having an inevitable, but satisfying ending.

Whiny protagonist or not, this is still a very entertaining and good book.

I kept listening

the narrator was good, the story was somewhat boring but it kept me listening. I guess I wanted Nancy to redeem herself somehow, it came at the end. overall I found Nancy to be selfish, and a user I wish I had liked her more throughout the story.