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A review by billymac1962
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
5.0
Outstanding.
A couple of months ago, Stephen King tweeted out some recommendations for great summer reading. In one of those tweets, he said, "Everything by Sarah Waters". Now that piqued my interest; I had only a passing knowledge of Waters, having only remembered when Fingersmith was
all over stores' bookshelves, but for some reason it seemed that this was in the romance genre and so, probably not for me.
Then I read some of the responses to this tweet: "Ingenious storytelling", "Lots of twists and turns", and so on...but ingenious storytelling? Now that's a rave you don't hear too often. So I slapped it on my list and decided to save it for my staycation by the pool.
I'm so glad I saved this for a time when I could really delve into it without the chinsy distractions of a working life. This is a 600 page work, and those pages densely packed with smallish print, so, lotsa lotsa words!
Fingersmith lives up to all of its accolades, I'm delighted to report. This is indeed ingenious storytelling, and even though the story itself doesn't seem to travel too quickly (and this only realized in retrospect), the journey is an absorbing visit to 1862 London, with characterization that is very well developed.
You're best to avoid any reviews that have plot synopses. Go in blindly and enjoy where Waters takes you. Know only that this a tale of thieves, and a caper, and it's 1862 London. It's terrific and made the first week of my vacation pretty much perfect.
Five stars for being everything that reading for enjoyment is supposed to be.
A couple of months ago, Stephen King tweeted out some recommendations for great summer reading. In one of those tweets, he said, "Everything by Sarah Waters". Now that piqued my interest; I had only a passing knowledge of Waters, having only remembered when Fingersmith was
all over stores' bookshelves, but for some reason it seemed that this was in the romance genre and so, probably not for me.
Then I read some of the responses to this tweet: "Ingenious storytelling", "Lots of twists and turns", and so on...but ingenious storytelling? Now that's a rave you don't hear too often. So I slapped it on my list and decided to save it for my staycation by the pool.
I'm so glad I saved this for a time when I could really delve into it without the chinsy distractions of a working life. This is a 600 page work, and those pages densely packed with smallish print, so, lotsa lotsa words!
Fingersmith lives up to all of its accolades, I'm delighted to report. This is indeed ingenious storytelling, and even though the story itself doesn't seem to travel too quickly (and this only realized in retrospect), the journey is an absorbing visit to 1862 London, with characterization that is very well developed.
You're best to avoid any reviews that have plot synopses. Go in blindly and enjoy where Waters takes you. Know only that this a tale of thieves, and a caper, and it's 1862 London. It's terrific and made the first week of my vacation pretty much perfect.
Five stars for being everything that reading for enjoyment is supposed to be.