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ClareR (5991 KP) rated Tipping The Velvet in Books

Jan 19, 2018 (Updated Jan 19, 2018)  
Tipping The Velvet
Tipping The Velvet
Sarah Waters | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry
9
8.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Sexual awakening in Victorian England
It has taken me a long time to get round to reading this - 20 years in fact. This is the 20th Anniversary edition, and it's still as relevant now as it has always been (and will continue to be relevant, I should think!). This is the story of Nancy Astley and her rise to fame in the music halls in the late 1800's as Nan King, along with her partner on stage and secretly in life too. The novel follows her sexual awakening as a lesbian. Nancy wants to live her life true to herself but Kitty, her partner, does not. Kitty is ashamed and they end up parting under very upsetting circumstances. nan runs away from her stage life , and her life takes a very different turn. She goes through a few different stages in her life - all very remarkable (hey, this is fiction after all!), before she reaches her happy ending. She is uncompromising throughout.
This was so well written, all from Nancy's point of view, which gave the advantage of an insight into her emotions and feelings about all of the things that happened to her. This isn't a book for the faint-hearted. There is a fair amount of sexually descriptive language, but if you like this kind of book (a sexual awakening and a strong independent woman), you'll really enjoy this. Many thanks to Netgalley and Virago for the chance to read this (at last!!)