Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Fingersmith

I read Fingersmith several years back in 2020, but I forgot most of the story so hearing it again the second time around was almost like I was listening to it for the first time. Things seemed familiar but then there were so many twists I forgot about that I was sucker punched more than once in a big way!

There is a little house in London in the Mid 1800’s where Mrs. Sucksby and Mr. Ibbs live. Mrs. Sucksby is quite the fiend for a woman, she is a baby farmer that takes in babies to sell to the highest bidder to families who are unable to conceive or as servants to others. She also houses a ring of petty thieves (aka Fingersmiths) with Mr. Ibbs, who is in charge of purchasing and sales of all stolen goods.

Sue is one of the Fingersmith’s that was taken in by Mrs. Sucksby as a new born. Unlike all the other children Mrs. Sucksby kept Sue and treated her just like she was her own in every way. Sue now a young woman wants to repay the favor so when Gentleman, one of Mrs. Sucksby and Mr. Ibb’s beloved thief’s comes to visit Sue decides to help him with a con.

He takes Sue to an out of the way town 40 miles away from London as a lady’s maid for Maud Lilly. Maud Lilly is young woman who was orphaned at birth and sent to live with her Uncle at an early age. Let’s just say Maud’s life didn’t get any easier at her uncle’s estate and I wouldn’t want that man as my uncle. Maud’s family has money so Gentleman has set his sights on wooing Ms. Lilly into marriage for her fortune and then sending her off to the mad house to be disposed of. But he needs Sue’s help to convince her he is the perfect man.

Sue is all in and can’t wait to split her money with Mrs. Sucksby for all her kindness, but Sue begins to feel sorry for the innocent Ms. Lilly and eventually develops feelings of sort for Maud that she was not expecting, and she’s not sure what to do any longer.

But all is not what it seems in this tale of deceit and turning tables and there is no way of knowing who the real villain(s) might be.

I think I enjoyed this much more the second time around and really got into the story. It is told in Sue & Maud’s dual POV’s and is both a character and plot driven story. I can’t go into too much detail or I will spill some secrets that made this book so shocking. But I will let you know one thing, NO ONE is what they seem to be. So expect quite a few twists. And also one of my favorite characters was Dainty, who was actually a minor one. If you’ve read it you might understand why I feel that way. She turned out to be the hero of the book in my opinion.

It is quite a long story and it had parts that dragged a bit but the shocks made up for it. And overall Fingersmith was a worthwhile, interesting read. I’d say even for some who do not always enjoy historical fiction like myself to give it a try, it might surprise you.

I’m definitely uping my previous rating from 3-4 stars.

Content Warnings

emfass's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

sherbertwells's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

“My name, in those days, was Susan Trinder”

When the leader of my local GSA suggested reading Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith, her one-word pitch was “Dickensian.” After reading the book, I find this comparison less than apt: what makes a book “Dickensian” in the first place? The weird names? The reversals of fortune and revelations of inheritance? The emphasis on morality? Fingersmith has all of those and more.

But despite his authorial virtues, Charles Dickens could not have written Fingersmith for the simple reason that it’s too gay for his Vicotrian sensibilities. The novel’s premise—an experienced criminal named “Gentleman” recruits a naïve girl for the con of a lifetime—is a mere tchotchke in Dickens’ wheelhouse. But none of his corseted (albeit progressive) stories would allow Susan Trinder and Maud Lilly to fall in love. Nor would they be written from Sue’s earnest, slangy first-person perspective. The credit for this style belongs entirely to Sarah Waters, the Welsh novelist who has made queer historical fiction her bread and butter.

Known for sapphic Victorian adventures like Tipping the Velvet and Affinity, Waters expands on the best aspect of Dickens: his combination of humor and empathy. Her characters, especially Sue and the maternal fence Mrs. Sucksby, are surprisingly nuanced and she includes lots of writerly flourishes that make the reading experience enjoyable. Take the scene where Gentleman teaches Sue how to “dress” a chair:

“He squatted at the side of the chair and smoothed his fingers over the bullying skirts; then he dipped his hand beneath them, reaching high into the layers of silk. He did it so neatly, it looked to me as if he knew his way, all right; and as he reached higher his cheek grew pink, the silk gave a rustle, the crinoline bucked, the chair quivered hard upon the kitchen floor, the joints of its legs faintly shrieking. Then it was still” (34)

Sexy, right?*

Besides the desire for queer representation, the main draw of Waters’ books is their author. Like Dickens, Sarah Waters is a brand—but not one I’m terribly interested in buying. Fingersmith is a fun story but not a particularly great one.

If you grew up on Six of Crows and are ready for something more adult or are a Useless Lesbian™ looking for a heroine like yourself, you might enjoy Fingersmith or the rest of Waters’ catalog. Her books are cool. They’re twisty. They’re gay as heck.

But don’t call them “Dickensian.”

*I have no idea if this is sexy.

Content Warnings

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