Book Review: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Nov. 20th, 2015 05:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juushikaTitle: Fingersmith
Author: Sarah Waters
Published: New York: Riverhead Books, 2011 (2002)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 582
Total Page Count: 170,311
Text Number: 498
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: In Victorian England, petty thief Sue Trinder agrees to help con a naïve young woman out of her inheritance. But when Sue meets Maud Lilly, both her emotions and the con grow regrettably complex. To call Fingersmith compelling is an understatement. The Dickensian pastiche and pagecount run overlong, the dual narratives can be repetitive, the plot twists are downright manipulative, yet the pages fly by. I saw another reviewer refer to this as YA lit with substance, which is spot on: Fingersmith invites fevered emotional investment, but is nuanced and grim. The unromantic historical setting and the predicaments that the protagonists land are sometimes so stressful that I regretted reading it; still, the pages fly by. I continue to be impressed by Waters's skill and can't but recommend this book.
Author: Sarah Waters
Published: New York: Riverhead Books, 2011 (2002)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 582
Total Page Count: 170,311
Text Number: 498
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: In Victorian England, petty thief Sue Trinder agrees to help con a naïve young woman out of her inheritance. But when Sue meets Maud Lilly, both her emotions and the con grow regrettably complex. To call Fingersmith compelling is an understatement. The Dickensian pastiche and pagecount run overlong, the dual narratives can be repetitive, the plot twists are downright manipulative, yet the pages fly by. I saw another reviewer refer to this as YA lit with substance, which is spot on: Fingersmith invites fevered emotional investment, but is nuanced and grim. The unromantic historical setting and the predicaments that the protagonists land are sometimes so stressful that I regretted reading it; still, the pages fly by. I continue to be impressed by Waters's skill and can't but recommend this book.
