This was the second of Waters' novels I've read, or more accurately listened to, once again excellently read by Juanita McMahon, who did the same for "Affinity", my first and which, similarly, also presents audio book readers with the challenge of a dual narration.

The novel is split into three parts, the first narrated by Susan Trinder, an orphan raised in London by Mrs. Sucksby. Sue is persuaded to take part in a plot with Richard 'Gentleman' Rivers, to steal money from Berkshire based heiress Maud Lilly through seducing her into marriage and then committing her to a madhouse. Sue poses as a maid at Briar, the Lillys' house, where Maud lives in virtual servitude to her Uncle Christopher, a man devoted to cataloguing pornographic books.

Things do not go quite as Sue expects, and Maud takes up the narration in Part Two, giving her side of life at Briar and how she fares with Rivers. The final part, which is again told by Sue, reveals some surprises about the characters' relationships to one another.

I felt this was very much a step up in quality from "Affinity", whose ending I found rather frustrating. Here, Waters gets her Victorian pastiche (with added lesbianism) pretty much perfect - even down to the novel perhaps being a smidge too long and slow in places - and the twists and turns of the convoluted plot are, to my mind, handled much more convincingly than in this novel's predecessor. I can see why the author has chosen to move onto portraying the mid-20th century: I'm not sure there's much she could have done to improve on this. ( )

A story worthy of Dickens, and I think I wish he'd written it. It's hard to say much about it without spoilers. I occasionally felt the story was propped up by the surprises the author had in store for the reader, and that it was necessary for her characters to be less than complete in order for her to pull it off. Once the first plot twist was revealed, I found myself too aware of the author and what she might be up to to lose myself completely in the story. That said, however, this was a highly enjoyable read (except for the madhouse bit, which felt rather trite). Waters is masterful at description and atmosphere. ( )

Great twists and turns. Waters is magnificent at setting the stage. ( )

http://keriansthoughts.blogspot.com/2... ( )