Tipping the Velvet
by Sarah Waters
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Description
Nan King, an oyster girl, is captivated by the music hall phenomenon Kitty Butler, a male impersonator extraordinaire treading the boards in Canterbury. Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally meet her heroine. Soon after, she becomes Kitty's dresser and the two head for the bright lights of Leicester Square where they begin a glittering career as music-hall stars in an all-singing and dancing double act. At the same time, behind closed doors, they show more admit their attraction to each other and their affair begins. show lessTags
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70
_debbie_ Both are (at least partially) historical novels with strong themes of identity, coming of age, and going against the mainstream to stay true to what you feel is right. Although one is set in Victorian England and the other isn't, they both have that same feel of rich language and descriptive place.
71
Member Reviews
The likeable first-person narrator in Sarah Waters's debut novel is Nan Astley, whom we first meet as a rather shy, eighteen-year-old "oyster girl" in Whitstable. She becomes infatuated with Kitty Butler, a visiting male impersonator at the local theatre. An unlikely friendship develops and Nan and Kitty are soon on their way to London together. The novel charts Nan's coming of age (and "coming out") in the lesbian communities of late 19th century London.
I started this book after having read all Waters's other novels except "The Paying Guests" (which I read concurrently - watch this space for my review...) In the light of Waters's later works, I don't consider "Tipping the Velvet" as one of her very best books. As a picaresque novel, it show more lacks the tight plotting of [b:Fingersmith|45162|Fingersmith|Sarah Waters|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327879025s/45162.jpg|1014113]. Nor does it have the ambitious narrative structure of [b:The Night Watch|550720|The Night Watch|Sarah Waters|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1394331077s/550720.jpg|134485] or the tantalising ambiguities of [b:The Little Stranger|6065182|The Little Stranger|Sarah Waters|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348922866s/6065182.jpg|5769396].
That said, it is easy to understand why critics were so enthusiastic about this novel when it was first published. Here was a new, exciting author with a surprising eye for detail and a talent for sumptuous descriptions of a bygone age. Here was an author who confidently evoked the Victorian era without resorting to rosy nostalgia or gaslight clichés. Here was an author who was evidently well-versed in the 19th century literary canon but equally knowledgeable about the naughtier writers of the period (Waters had researched 19th century pornography as part of her doctoral studies and the title is a term taken from Victorian sexual slang). Indeed, "Tipping the Velvet" sometimes feels like the book that Dickens or Collins might have written but would have never dared publish.
A rollicking debut, then, and a good place to start exploring Waters' world. In my view however, her later books are better, albeit less transgressive. show less
I started this book after having read all Waters's other novels except "The Paying Guests" (which I read concurrently - watch this space for my review...) In the light of Waters's later works, I don't consider "Tipping the Velvet" as one of her very best books. As a picaresque novel, it show more lacks the tight plotting of [b:Fingersmith|45162|Fingersmith|Sarah Waters|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327879025s/45162.jpg|1014113]. Nor does it have the ambitious narrative structure of [b:The Night Watch|550720|The Night Watch|Sarah Waters|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1394331077s/550720.jpg|134485] or the tantalising ambiguities of [b:The Little Stranger|6065182|The Little Stranger|Sarah Waters|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348922866s/6065182.jpg|5769396].
That said, it is easy to understand why critics were so enthusiastic about this novel when it was first published. Here was a new, exciting author with a surprising eye for detail and a talent for sumptuous descriptions of a bygone age. Here was an author who confidently evoked the Victorian era without resorting to rosy nostalgia or gaslight clichés. Here was an author who was evidently well-versed in the 19th century literary canon but equally knowledgeable about the naughtier writers of the period (Waters had researched 19th century pornography as part of her doctoral studies and the title is a term taken from Victorian sexual slang). Indeed, "Tipping the Velvet" sometimes feels like the book that Dickens or Collins might have written but would have never dared publish.
A rollicking debut, then, and a good place to start exploring Waters' world. In my view however, her later books are better, albeit less transgressive. show less
"Being in love, you know......it's not like having a canary, in a cage. When you lose one sweetheart, you can't just go out and get another to replace her."
'Tipping the Velvet' is a coming of age novel that follows the life of Nancy Astley, a young oyster girl living in Whitstable with her family who enjoys trips to the local music hall. When one night Nancy sees Kitty Butler, a male impersonator, perform, she falls hard for her. So when Kitty invites Nancy to join her in London as her personal dresser, Nancy quickly accepts. For a while, the two live an idyllic life but when Kitty betrays her, Nancy descends into the seedy underworld of London lesbians and the budding Socialist movement. It’s a journey that ultimately brings Nancy show more out of other people’s shadows and into her own spotlight.
There is a lot of sex in this novel. Nancy is a very sexual woman and her time with Diana, a woman who has hired her as a sort of in-house prostitute, is particularly explicit but Waters succeeds in never making it feel too gratuitous.
There are echoes of Charles Dickens about this novel and like him Waters brings Victorian London to life, as both a boy and a woman. We visit the heights of elegance and the depths of poverty but more impressively Waters explores differing aspects of Victorian womanhood; the rich but abusive Diana, the socialist Florence to the various women that Nancy encounters along the way. In fact there are only three male characters who have any real bearing on the story.
Waters also explores the spectrum of female homosexuality. Kitty is a fiercely closeted woman who marries a man just to prove that she’s not some “tom”, a Victorian slur for a lesbian. Alice, Nancy's sister, is disgusted that Nancy is in love another woman and disowns her, Diana and her circle of friends seem to view their homosexuality as a sort of refined choice, rather than a state of being. When Nancy finally finds true love, it’s with Florence, a woman who is comfortable with her identity as a lesbian.
Yes, it's very sexual and I must admit that there were a few occasions when I would have liked to have seen it toned down a little, but Nancy is a likeable character and the story, as it explores what it means to be a woman, especially a gay woman, during the Victorian age, is very well written. As a first novel it's quite a feat. show less
'Tipping the Velvet' is a coming of age novel that follows the life of Nancy Astley, a young oyster girl living in Whitstable with her family who enjoys trips to the local music hall. When one night Nancy sees Kitty Butler, a male impersonator, perform, she falls hard for her. So when Kitty invites Nancy to join her in London as her personal dresser, Nancy quickly accepts. For a while, the two live an idyllic life but when Kitty betrays her, Nancy descends into the seedy underworld of London lesbians and the budding Socialist movement. It’s a journey that ultimately brings Nancy show more out of other people’s shadows and into her own spotlight.
There is a lot of sex in this novel. Nancy is a very sexual woman and her time with Diana, a woman who has hired her as a sort of in-house prostitute, is particularly explicit but Waters succeeds in never making it feel too gratuitous.
There are echoes of Charles Dickens about this novel and like him Waters brings Victorian London to life, as both a boy and a woman. We visit the heights of elegance and the depths of poverty but more impressively Waters explores differing aspects of Victorian womanhood; the rich but abusive Diana, the socialist Florence to the various women that Nancy encounters along the way. In fact there are only three male characters who have any real bearing on the story.
Waters also explores the spectrum of female homosexuality. Kitty is a fiercely closeted woman who marries a man just to prove that she’s not some “tom”, a Victorian slur for a lesbian. Alice, Nancy's sister, is disgusted that Nancy is in love another woman and disowns her, Diana and her circle of friends seem to view their homosexuality as a sort of refined choice, rather than a state of being. When Nancy finally finds true love, it’s with Florence, a woman who is comfortable with her identity as a lesbian.
Yes, it's very sexual and I must admit that there were a few occasions when I would have liked to have seen it toned down a little, but Nancy is a likeable character and the story, as it explores what it means to be a woman, especially a gay woman, during the Victorian age, is very well written. As a first novel it's quite a feat. show less
This was a very different sort of historical fiction than I’m used to and I liked it all the better for it. It’s finely written with an ear to character voice and the time period, but it’s plain-spoken, not overwrought, and Nancy doesn’t spend a lot of time on details that don’t matter to the story. It’s enough to know she’s walking a foggy street. She doesn’t mention the muck or the smell or who she’s walking past. Waters has clearly done all the research, but she doesn’t care if you know it, and I wish more people followed her lead.
I also really liked seeing queer Victorian London, and that Waters wove the story to take us through all its facets without making it heavy-handed. I liked that this was a very positive show more queer London too! That yes, there were homophobes and bad situations and people who take advantage of others, but at the same time, the message is that queer people have always been, they’ve always found ways to exist in society, that they’ve always found acceptance and family and each other, and that the struggles queer people face now were faced in the past and if they succeeded, we can too. (Or at least, that’s what I took away from it.) Even if it’s not 100% in the historical record, it’s 100% believable and nice to see.
Nancy’s an interesting person too, with a wide-eyed but knowing way of looking at the world, and I enjoyed following her through her story and growth, even through the parts I knew weren’t going to end well. I was at least as caught up in what happened to her as I was seeing Victorian London in all its queerness. She’s real, and her partners are real, and everyone else is believable, and as fleshed out as they need to be for their roles in the story. There were some other elements of her narration that I also liked, but I think to mention them here would spoil the effect.
I also enjoyed all the little moments where Waters puns on “queer” and where she peppers historical queer people and literature into the background. There’s a library at one point where every author is gay, and I think there’s mention of “poor Oscar” at one point without context, that kind of thing.
I wasn’t sucked into the story to the point of needing to go back to the book as soon as possible, which is one of the bars I have for what is a great read, but this was solidly good and I absolutely plan to read more of Waters’ books in the future. She’s got a great style, and there’s definitely a reason this one in particular keeps getting talked about.
To bear in mind: Contains homelessness, poverty, unequal and abusive relationships, internal and external homophobia, historical slurs including towards a Black man, attempted and actual sexual assault. Survival sex work, if that’s going to bring back bad memories. Some pretty explicit sex scenes, if you’re reading in public.
7.5/10 show less
I also really liked seeing queer Victorian London, and that Waters wove the story to take us through all its facets without making it heavy-handed. I liked that this was a very positive show more queer London too! That yes, there were homophobes and bad situations and people who take advantage of others, but at the same time, the message is that queer people have always been, they’ve always found ways to exist in society, that they’ve always found acceptance and family and each other, and that the struggles queer people face now were faced in the past and if they succeeded, we can too. (Or at least, that’s what I took away from it.) Even if it’s not 100% in the historical record, it’s 100% believable and nice to see.
Nancy’s an interesting person too, with a wide-eyed but knowing way of looking at the world, and I enjoyed following her through her story and growth, even through the parts I knew weren’t going to end well. I was at least as caught up in what happened to her as I was seeing Victorian London in all its queerness. She’s real, and her partners are real, and everyone else is believable, and as fleshed out as they need to be for their roles in the story. There were some other elements of her narration that I also liked, but I think to mention them here would spoil the effect.
I also enjoyed all the little moments where Waters puns on “queer” and where she peppers historical queer people and literature into the background. There’s a library at one point where every author is gay, and I think there’s mention of “poor Oscar” at one point without context, that kind of thing.
I wasn’t sucked into the story to the point of needing to go back to the book as soon as possible, which is one of the bars I have for what is a great read, but this was solidly good and I absolutely plan to read more of Waters’ books in the future. She’s got a great style, and there’s definitely a reason this one in particular keeps getting talked about.
To bear in mind: Contains homelessness, poverty, unequal and abusive relationships, internal and external homophobia, historical slurs including towards a Black man, attempted and actual sexual assault. Survival sex work, if that’s going to bring back bad memories. Some pretty explicit sex scenes, if you’re reading in public.
7.5/10 show less
how funny that i didn't like this book the first time i read it. (in my memory it wasn't even the 2 stars i gave it below.) and especially that i didn't like her writing, which is clearly just so good. more than anything i'm impressed by her writing and really wonder what i was thinking that i didn't like it before. the characters i wasn't taken with this time, either, but the writing was so good that i didn't care. this time around, i was also pretty fascinated with the time period and atmosphere that she created. i wasn't excited about part 2 of the story, but did find myself compulsively reading this throughout. and i was pretty taken by the story in part 1 and much of part 3. in spite of not liking part 2 as much, i definitely show more enjoyed this from start to nearly finish (i'm a little unsatisfied with the final confrontation between kitty and nancy ), and have no idea what i could have been thinking last time I read this. and also, wow - how incredibly bold to name her first ever published book this. i'm pretty blown away by that alone.
when sitting thigh-to-thigh with her crush: "Kitty still smiled. Then she half-rose to reach a pepper castor; and when she sat again she drew her feet beneath her chair, and I felt my thigh grow cool."
"But there was something very appealing about that Fe-Male. I saw myself in it - in the hyphen."
(3.75 stars)
from nov 2008: 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. (2 stars) show less
when sitting thigh-to-thigh with her crush: "Kitty still smiled. Then she half-rose to reach a pepper castor; and when she sat again she drew her feet beneath her chair, and I felt my thigh grow cool."
"But there was something very appealing about that Fe-Male. I saw myself in it - in the hyphen."
(3.75 stars)
from nov 2008: 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. (2 stars) show less
Nan King, nee Nancy Astley; Kitty Butler, Diana Lethaby, Zena Blake---you've never met Victorians like these before. An utterly absorbing, entertaining and enlightening, erotic romp through a segment of London society that "Mrs. Brown" probably never dreamed of. This book has been hailed as "the lesbian novel we've all been waiting for". Well, like most labels, that characterization leaves out all the best parts. Yes, it's about lesbians, but in the opinion of one reader (me) who hadn't really been waiting for any lesbian novel at all, it is what all successful novels are---a damned good story, with interesting characters inhabiting a world I don't live in. And if you can read the first 50 pages or so without craving oysters for show more breakfast, dinner & tea, you have no soul. I hope Sarah Waters lives a long, long time, and writes many more books. show less
An absorbing coming-of-age novel that also explores sex and lesbian cultures in late-nineteenth-century England. As in the excellent Fingersmith, Waters's historical research here is evident and impressive without seeming showy or tiresome (you know those historical novels where it feels like the author includes details just because they did the research and want credit for it?). In some ways, this is a book about becoming an adult and finding one's place in the world, and also about the hardness and softness we encounter as we interact with other people and ourselves. There are absolutely dreadful people here, but there are kind ones, too.
Tipping the Velvet has everything I could want in a book: both male and female prostitution, lesbians both in and out of the closet, 19th century gay bars, theatrical reviews, poverty and extreme riches, socialism, social workers, love, lust and very graphic sex. Waters writes such believable characters. Nancy falls in love completely and would do anything for the woman she loves, but she takes care of herself. She's weak, she's willing to accept degradation if that will keep her safe, she forgets people easily when she moves on. She's not particularly interested in social causes, but she is interested in individuals. She has a kind heart, a daring sense of adventure, more theatrical talent than she realizes and a rather large dose of show more humility. She thinks she is the only person like herself, and she finds a way to make her inclinations, strange though she realizes they are, work for her. All the characters in this book ring true, defects and all, and I found them irresistible. show less
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Author Information
8+ Works 31,644 Members
Sarah Waters was born in Wales in 1966. She has a Ph.D. in English. She is the author of several books including Tipping the Velvet, Affinity, The Night Watch, and The Paying Guests. Fingersmith won the CWA Ellis Peters Dagger Award for Historical Crime Fiction and the South Bank Show Award for Literature. She has won a Betty Trask Award and the show more Somerset Maugham Award. In 2003, she was chosen as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists and was named Author of the Year by the British Book Awards, The Booksellers' Association and Waterstone's Booksellers. Several of her novels have been adapted for television. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Work Relationships
Has the adaptation
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Tipping the Velvet
- Original title
- Tipping the velvet
- Original publication date
- 1998-02-05
- People/Characters
- Nancy Astley; Kitty Butler; Diana Lethaby; Walter Bliss; Florence Banner; Ralph Banner (show all 14); Zena Blake; Mrs. Milne; Gracie Milne; Alice Astley; Davy Astley; Annie Page; Tony Reeves; Tricky Reeves
- Important places
- Whitstable, Kent, England, UK; London, England, UK; Canterbury, Kent, England, UK
- Related movies
- Tipping the Velvet (2002 | IMDb)
- First words
- Have you ever tasted a Whitstable oyster? If you have, you will remember it. Some quirk of the Kentish coastline makes Whitstable natives - as they are properly called - the largest and juiciest, the savouriest yet the subtle... (show all)st, oysters in the whole of England. -Chapter 1
- Quotations
- "Dreams," I said. He snapped his fingers. "The very stuff that stages are made of."
"In short, Nance, even was you going to the very devil himself, your mother and I would rather see you fly from us in joy, than stay with us in sorrow - and grow, maybe, to hate us, for keeping you from your fate." - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)From the speaker's tent there came a muffled cheer, and a rising ripple of applause.
- Publisher's editor
- Abbey, Sally
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 823.914
- Canonical LCC
- PR6073.A828
- Disambiguation notice
- Please do not combine Tipping the Velvet the novel with Tipping the Velvet the DVD.
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