Sarah Waters

Piercing the shadows of the naked stage was a single shaft of rosy limelight, and in the centre of this was a girl: the most marvellous girl - I knew it at once! - that I had ever seen. A saucy, sensuous and multi-layered historical romance, Tipping the Velvet follows the glittering career of Nan King - oyster girl turned music-hall star turned rent boy turned East End 'tom'. It launched the career of one of Britain's most exciting and successful writers. `One of the best storytellers alive today' - Independent. Sarah Waters has written five subsequent bestselling novels, all of which have been filmed or are currently in production and she has received critical and popular acclaim and prize shortlists. She was awarded the Stonewall Writer of the Decade in 2016. Tipping the Velvet was adapted by Andrew Davies and filmed by Sally Head Productions for the BBC

Tipping the Velvet

Chronicles the picturesque adventures and romantic misadventures of Nan King, a onetime oyster girl from a provincial seaside town who follows a local music hall star to the gay and lesbian world of late Victorian London. Reprint.

💌

I had the same sensation: a pang of disappointment and regret that turned instantly to pleasure and to aching love; a desire to touch, to embrace and caress, so strong I had to turn aside or fold my arms for fear that they would fly about her and press her close.

If she might! I nodded and smiled like an idiot: for the thrill of being addressed by her I would gladly have lost all of my old name, and taken a new one, or gone nameless entirely.

But I know she saw me in my box, for I felt her eyes upon me, sometimes, as she sang; and always, when she left the stag, there was that sweep of her hat for the hall, and a nod, or a wink, or the ghost of a smile, just for me.

I felt as if my admiration for Kitty Butler had lit a beacon inside me, and opening my unguarded mouth had sent a shaft of light into the darkened room, illuminating all.

‘When I see her,’ I said, ‘it’s like — I don’t know what it’s like. It’s like I never saw anything at all before. It’s like I am filling up, like a wine-glass when it’s filled with wine. I watch the acts before her and they are like nothing — they’re like dust. Then she walks on the stage and — she is so pretty; and her suit is so nice; and her voice is so sweet… She makes me want to smile and weep, at once. She makes me sore, here.’ I placed a hand upon my chest, upon the breast-bone. ‘I never saw a girl like her before. I never knew that there were girls like her…’ 

Ryan Mateyk

This is my first Sarah Waters read, despite having The Little Stranger on my bookshelf since it was first published... my mistake! Her writing is absolutely incredible and I am awed by the amount of research and detail this book must have required. It fully transports the reader to late Victorian London. Amazing!!!

Grace Edwards

Sarah Sammis

I was unimpressed with the book. Sarah Waters appears to be a one note writer. Sure, she changes the setting and the time period but her cardboard cutout characters are the same. There is always the naive young woman who falls for the more worldly but jaded woman and learns of the forbidden love only to scare her new soul mate straight! There you go, that's the twist to every one of Waters's books that I've read so you might as well save yourself the time and read something better.

Also in Tipping the Velvetyou might learn something about oysters and where the best ones are apparently harvested. You can learn how to prepare oysters and how to eat them. All this information is in the first chapter. It is by far the most interesting chapter of the entire novel.

This book surprised me. I didn't expect to finish or love it as much as I did. A Historical Fiction novel wouldn't usually be my first choice for a read, but since its main focus is on lesbianism and what it was like to be a lesbian/sapphic during the 1800s, I was intrigued. However, I bought the book and put it down after finishing part one. I was quite upset at how it ended and wasn't sure if I wanted to continue reading. The synopsis on the back of that book did not match what I read in part one. So I took a 4-month break from it. I decided to give it another try this month. I opened the book again and started at part two. I haven't been able to put the book down since! I've spent hours reading into the early morning because I was so hooked by the writing. I can proudly say that I’m glad that I decided to finish this book. It was an amazing, moving, interesting read. This book was my introduction to sapphic media and I am glad. I was rooting for the main character the whole time and I am so happy with the ending she received. This book would be my first recommendation to anyone looking for a new book to read. 

Safeya Wilson

loved the gender stuff!!! loved reading Nan’s boy arc!!!! The last third lost me though I just feel like the momentum plummeted we lost the spark idk

Bailee Strong

I gave up on this with less than 100 pages left. I really didn't connect with the story or characters at all which is a shame

Piercing the shadows of the naked stage was a single shaft of rosy limelight, and in the centre of this was a girl: the most marvellous girl - I knew it at once! - that I had ever seen. A saucy, sensuous and multi-layered historical romance, Tipping the Velvet follows the glittering career of Nan King - oyster girl turned music-hall star turned rent boy turned East End 'tom'.

Tipping The Velvet

a standing ovation for miss waters, as always.

her prose flows so seamlessly and the narration is so gripping, the only thing that gives away that this is a debut novel is the ending, which makes sense since she shared that she essentially plotted the novel from the middle section outwards.

a standing ovation for miss waters, as always.

her prose flows so seamlessly and the narration is so gripping, the only thing that gives away that this is a debut novel is the ending, which makes sense since she shared that she essentially plotted the novel from the middle section outwards.

regardless, excellent on all levels.

elif sinem

4.5 because it really veered to wish fulfillment in the end and i overall thought it didn't offer much change for our protagonist here. that said nancy's voice is just impeccable and perfect and i'll miss her narration and mess so, so much, easily one of the most magnetic protagonists. so many beautiful lines to quote here also, i'm surprised tumblr / book twt hasn't jumped onto the sarah waters train at all yet.

Erin Noel

A very scandalous but heart-warming tale of "Nan King," who leaves her small family town of Whistable for love (seductress and stage performer Kitty Butler) and later a glimpse of fame, falls in love, gets her heart broken, and mends it back. It all takes place in London during the late 1800s--truly enjoyed this one.

Kate

3.5. Was not really a fan of the middle bit, although now I'm wondering about the historical basis for a lot of it.

My first 5-star book of 2018! YAY!

This is the first book I've read by Sarah Waters, and I'm really eager to read the rest of her work now. Her writing is so rich and luscious, it utterly transported me to London in the late 1800s! Some writing suffers from being too rich though, in that it sounds stuffy or boring, but this book never had that problem at all.

I will say that Nancy drove me insane at times, but I was still ultimately rooting for her. It's almost like she was my little sister that I just want to smack because she's making stupid decisions or being utterly selfish and immature, but at the end of the day I love her dearly. Some people don't find her likable because of these personality issues, but I really enjoyed her. She felt very real to me and she grew up a lot by the end of the book.

Nikki K

Paulina 

Zaczęło z kopyta, a potem poszło w kierunku porno-romansu. Oczywiście językowo wciąż na poziomie piania z zachwytu, ale nadmiar miłostek, kochanek, aktów i wielkich uczuć wepchniety w 250 stron trochę mi robił takie hihi. Bo z parnej i powolnej Waters zrobiło się nagle 50 twarzy Nance King.

liza

Alyanna

Tipping the velvet

Elizabeth

Kimberley 🦉

Erica Pisani

Roo Lampione

Carine

Nan is captivated by the music hall phenomenon that is Kitty Butler, a male impersonator extraordinaire treading the boards in Canterbury. Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally meet her heroine. Soon after, she becomes Kitty's dresser and the two head for the bright lights of Leicester Square where they start an all-singing and dancing double act. At the same time, behind closed doors, they admit their attraction to each other and their affair begins.

Tipping the Velvet

Reviews

Highlights