A review by thelaurasaurus
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

challenging informative slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A saucy lesbian romp around Victorian London, let down by a cast of characters who were either unlikeable or underwhelming. I’ve read and enjoyed three other Sarah Waters books, so I was surprised at how much of a slog this, her first novel, was. In some ways it felt like a series of set pieces rather than a fully formed story. In fact it was the final scene, spread across a day at a socialist rally, that saved it from a 2-star rating. 
 
I read the 20th anniversary edition, published in 2018, and it was interesting to read the new afterword, where Waters raises all of my complaints and more. I hadn’t thought of a novel as a snapshot of a period of an authors life in the way she describes it, so that was an interesting new perspective. 
 
If you’re looking to get into Sarah Waters, then The Night Watch, set in London during WWII, is my favourite. 
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