Tipping the Velvet: A Novel (original 1998; edition 2000)

Interested in more of my reviews? Visit my blog!

4.5 stars
Sarah Water’s debut novel set in 1890s London is a delightfully shocking tale of exploring the boundaries of gender roles in the Victorian era. It's about finding out who you really are and being comfortable in your own skin and about overcoming heartache and finding love again.

The Storyline
’And was there at her side a slender, white-faced, unremarkable-looking girl, with the sleeves of her dress rolled up to her elbows, and a lock of lank and colourless hair forever falling into her eye, and her lips continually moving to the words of some street-singer’s or music-hall song?

That was me.'

Nancy is an oyster girl who works quite dutifully in her parent’s restaurant. It’s not until she goes with her sister Alice to Palace, an old-fashioned music hall, that her life is changed forever when she sets eyes on Kitty and sees her performance for the first time.

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

When Nancy becomes intent on catching Kitty’s eye and having her notice her she begins going back to the Palace every night just to see her again and again. When Kitty throws a flower to Nancy in the crowd the two finally meet afterwards and a friendship is cultivated that slowly becomes much much more. Nancy becomes Kitty’s dresser and when she is offered a job in London Nancy decides she simply must go with her.

The story continues to develop and as time progresses the two become even closer and eventually become lovers as the two eventually team up together on stage.

’The act, I knew, was still all hers. When we sang, it was really she who sang, while I provided a light, easy second. When we danced, it was she who did the tricky steps: I only strolled or shuffled at her side. I was her foil, her echo; I was the shadow which, in all her brilliance, she cast across the stage. But, like a shadow, I lent her the edge, the depth, the crucial definition, that she lacked before.

Final Thoughts
What follows is simply the beginning of Nancy’s story and it’s quite a memorable one. I must admit there were parts that were quite shocking that I wasn’t expecting (like when I found out what Tipping the Velvet really meant… haha!), but that was the beauty of the story, the beauty of Nancy’s story. The writing was honest, the characters were vibrant, and I loved each and every page. Sarah Waters is an absolutely gorgeous writer. Her words will intrigue you, they will astound you, and you won't be able to get them out of your head. I can’t wait to get my hands on more from her. ( )

Bought this on Ebay.
It is more of a Literature Historical Fiction book,but decided to add it in the history genre.


Finished reading just now (April 14 2006) and the word that come to mind is,wow! What a great read. I have read so many books but this is one I won't forget. I highly recommend this book.
( )

I don't really know how to start reviewing this book! I definitely enjoyed it. It's a little dense, sometimes, but it's not really all that slow-moving -- I suppose some stories might get the first one hundred and fifty pages out in a chapter, but Tipping the Velvet isn't boring about it. I did get a little stuck reading it, at one point, but that was mostly because I guessed something bad was about to happen, and I didn't really want it to happen.

So, you might guess that I grew to care about the characters. I definitely did, although they're not the kind of characters that stick in your mind forever and ever -- I thought the same thing when I read Fingersmith, which is also by Sarah Waters. I think it was a bit better in Tipping the Velvet.

It's still hard to see it as purely historical fiction -- impossible, even, given the number of sex scenes that, if not exactly pornographic, aren't skimpy with details either. I can see why people think of Sarah Waters as a lesbian writer. I found it a little difficult to believe that there were so many lesbians in Victorian times. But then it was pointed out in a lecture when I studied Dracula that we tend to think of the Victorians as much more prim and proper than they actually were, so I don't know... I found some of it over the top, anyway -- not so much Florence and the other 'toms' nearer the end of the book, but definitely the Sapphist society that make such a pet out of Nancy.

Some of the descriptions are very good, particularly some of the early ones where Nancy is beginning to fall in love with Kitty. Most of the characters are reasonably realistic -- I find Kitty's intentions of hiding her relationship with Nancy very convincing, for example. Sometimes I wish someone would introduce her to subtlety -- some of the foreshadowing didn't so much hint as what was going to happen as take a big stick and hit one round the head with it.

Of the two books I've read by Sarah Waters, Tipping the Velvet is the more fun. It's a little over the top, maybe, but quite bright and colourful and vivid, even at Nancy's darker moments. The plot is less tightly wound -- in Fingersmith, everything has to happen just so, so that the scheme falls into place, while Tipping the Velvet is appropriately a little more rambling, more like real life. ( )

After loving Fingersmith, I was all ready for another Sarah Waters outside-of-the-box story. But it wasn't to be; for me, Nan was so self-centered she became increasingly unlikeable. I am all for self-discovery but Nan becomes so wrapped up in herself that she is incredibly one-dimensional and I cared less and less about what happened to her/the relationships/if she found happiness. Wasn't crazy about her stint as a feMALE renter either- it seemed like a leap. I did appreciate the depictions of London and the time - Waters gets those spot on. But hey, I will most likely watch the film when it is released. ( )

i did find this book compelling, but i really can't attribute that to the characters or the writing. the writing was definitely average or slightly better, but if this story was about heterosexual people, i'm quite sure i wouldn't like it. i read very few books with alternative sexual orientation/gender characters, that i was drawn in for that reason alone. but if i'm being honest about the quality of it, it can't get more than 2 stars. i did like hearing about being lesbian in victorian london as i knew nothing about that before. ( )