Fingersmith

Book Description

Critics

• Corsets and cliffhangers

  Fingersmith Sarah Waters 416pp, Virago, £12.99 The worst job I ever had was in Debenhams hosiery department, Nottingham, 1977. The one thing that kept me going through that dark, soul-numbing winter was Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White. I gobbled ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

• Inner steel

  Fingersmith Sarah Waters Virago £15.99, pp549 Sarah Waters dusts off Victorian melodrama and shows that there's life in the old props yet. Her sense of the past is acute, but never inhibits the free flow of invention or emotion. Writing historical fi ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

14 Reviews

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  What a great read! Sarah Waters' previous Booker Prize-shortlisted fiction is full of so many twists and turns that it kept me gasp for breath as I read along.

  Set in the 19th-century England, Fingersmith is about the lives of two seemingly unrelated teen-aged girls whose lives were brought t ... (continue)

  What a great read! Sarah Waters' previous Booker Prize-shortlisted fiction is full of so many twists and turns that it kept me gasp for breath as I read along.

  Set in the 19th-century England, Fingersmith is about the lives of two seemingly unrelated teen-aged girls whose lives were brought together by fate. Susan was raised by a bunch of thieves in London, while Maud lived with her uncle in a gloomy big mansion in the countryside. Susan took part in a scam and served as a maid to Maud. Readers are then taken through a roller-coaster ride through the shocking events, surprises and climaxes as the story unfolds.

  Sarah Waters has not only conceived a marvellous plot, but also created a number of memorable characters, most of whom however had a troubled, tormented or twisted mind. The malevolence, vileness and ill-will of the villains in the story are really an eye-opener for me. The fact that people could be so malicious and inflict so much harm and pain on others is beyond my imagination.

  A crime fiction cum psychological thriller, Fingersmith will keep you awake all night.

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  Tracy W said on Nov 23, 2008 | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  I read it after seeing the tv show (which I loved) and of course I loved the book too.
  Great writing style, which conveys perfectly the emotions of the characters. A beautiful love story.

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  ValeXina said on Aug 28, 2008 | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  Read this book because of its TV series, and I guess I like the novel more - can picture more!

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  Corky said on Apr 13, 2008 | Add your feedback

• 

  Twisting and gripping! Absolutely recommended!

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  Mariella B said on Aug 8, 2011 | Add your feedback

• 

  A real page-turner, with a brisky pace but not too fast.
  Lost of psychological insight. The two protagonists are likable in their own way and the shifting point of view, often on the same events, adds to the complexity of the plot.
  Defeinitely recommended, if you are not squicked by saffic love.

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  Redviper118 said on Mar 10, 2011 | Add your feedback

• *** This comment contains spoilers! ***

  Never judge a book by it's cover

  As far as deceptive narratives go, this book provides the reader with one of the most thrilling hidden plots ever.
  Sue Trinder uses society's discriminatory attitudes towards women to mock and deceive the reader as well as the other characters while they bring themselves and each other to destructi ... (continue)

  As far as deceptive narratives go, this book provides the reader with one of the most thrilling hidden plots ever.
  Sue Trinder uses society's discriminatory attitudes towards women to mock and deceive the reader as well as the other characters while they bring themselves and each other to destruction, and in the process even rewrites Maud's narrative. Like in affinity Waters forces us to think about the way we read novels and in
  Sue Trinder creates one of literatures darkest and most ruthless villains.

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  Gloria Gainer, Duke of Argyle said on Nov 8, 2010 | Add your feedback

See all 14 comments

Book Details

• Rating:
  (117)
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• English Books
• Paperback 560 Pages
• Edition: New Ed
• ISBN-10: 1860498833
• ISBN-13: 9781860498831
• Publisher: VIRAGO (LITT)
• Pub date: Feb 03, 2003
• Dimensions: 1290 mm x 839 mm x 258 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Hardcover, Others and eBook
• In other languages: other languages 繁體書, Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, llibres en català, Libri Italiani, Danske bøger, Svenska böcker

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• The Collective (146)
• NY Times Notable Book Club (481)
• 50 Book Challenge! (867)
• Historical Fiction Lovers (195)

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