919. Tipping the Velvet

Tipping the Velvet
Sarah Waters
1998
Around 475 pages

What a great chaser to that cesspool behind us. Sarah Waters is one of my favorite authors, and I was absolutely obsessed with this novel. 

This is the coming of age story of Nan Astley, who lives a dreary existence in England working at her family's oyster restaurant. That is, until she meets a male impersonator named Kitty Butler, and follows her to London to assist in her performances. She falls desperately in love with Kitty, and joins her as a partner on stage. But Kitty can't surrender herself completely to a love affair with a woman.

Waters said that she wrote about the Victorian era because a lot of the things we think know about it are stereotypes, or just wrong. I love that, I love it when authors deconstruct the ideas we have of certain historical time periods, since we love to romanticize the past so much. Waters is a brilliant writer and made me fall in love with Nan instantly.

No complaints, the perfect read.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into a BBC series in 2002.

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