Fingersmith, Sarah Waters

“A Giant roller-coaster of a novel in 400 sizzling chapters. A searing indictment of domestic servitude in the eighteenth century with some hot gypsies thrown in” ~ Edmund Blackadder

So maybe it’s not 400 chapters long, but Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith is most certainly a roller-coaster ride; portraying a believable, well-researched account of eighteenth century Britain with some stormy lesbian action to boot.

From the moment I picked up this book I was captivated. It was by sheer accident that it came to be in my possession; being categorised as “Lesbian Fiction” I naturally assumed it would be some sort of Mills and Boon drivel with twice the boobs. I couldn’t have been more wrong:

Susan Tinder has been brought up a pickpocket (a fingersmith, if you will) in South London. Life seems an unchanging constant until one day a family friend, known only as Gentleman, shows up on the doorstep with a daring plan; a plan that, if successful, will make Susan a very rich woman. He whisks her off to the country where she is to serve as a maid to a rich lady named Maud Lilly. It all seems straight forward enough; her only task is to serve and observe and paint a picture of Maud that will render her insane. But as the plot thickens, it becomes clear that there is more to this scheme than meets the eye.

There are many unexpected twists and turns in every direction and, at times, it is difficult to tell who is conning who. Which contrary to being convoluted and off-putting actually compels the reader to read on and unfold the intricate plot. This is a novel cram-packed with action of Dickensian motif, with a far less arduous style: lunatic asylums, evil villains, grim prison cells, lost and stolen fortunes and, most importantly, murder most foul. As the story sinks deeper into the scam, so the tone becomes more cloying and claustrophobic until finally reaching a huge and almost exhilarating climax.

In plot and theme, this book reminds me very much of Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White, though the classic plot has been reworked to create something far more immediately accessible and carnal. This is a thumping good read, if ever a read I thumped; beautifully written with bodice ripping passion, con artists and a love story. This is melodrama at its very best.