Fingersmith

A BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club Pick – Booker Prize Shortlisted

Sarah Waters author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Little, Brown Book Group

Published:26th Jun '12

£10.99

Available to order, but very limited on stock - if we have issues obtaining a copy, we will let you know.

Fingersmith cover

* The Orange Prize short-listed, Booker Prize short-listed, critically adored, third novel from Sarah Waters - reissued in with a stunning new jacket

A BBC TWO BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK (BOOKER PRIZE GEMS)

The book that inspired Park Chan-wook's astonishing film The Handmaiden.

Shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Booker Prize

London 1862. Sue Trinder, orphaned at birth, grows up among petty thieves - fingersmiths - under the rough but loving care of Mrs Sucksby and her 'family'. But from the moment she draws breath, Sue's fate is linked to that of another orphan growing up in a gloomy mansion not too many miles away.

Totally immersive with brilliantly drawn characters... a page-turning thriller while managing to be a tender love story * Adam Kay *
Intensely atmospheric, impeccably paced, and cunningly structured, this is that rarity in contemporary fiction: a deeply serious novel that is also a thumping great read -- Douglas Kennedy * Mail on Sunday *
There are always novels that you envy people for not having read yet, for the pleasure they still have to come. Well, this is one. Long, dark, twisted and satisfying, it's a fabulous piece of writing... An unforgettable experience -- Julie Myerson * Guardian *
One of the best twists of any book, one that lifts the novel from a brilliant piece of modern Victoriana to something altogether more original and daring... Fingersmith, like so many great books, calls into question our desire to fit novels into restrictive boxes... If you like a great story, brilliantly told, you'll love this book -- Laura Shepherd-Robinson * The Times *
A chilling, ingenious erotic thriller - unputdownable * Sunday Express *
She distils a slice of London Victoriana, involving pickpockets, orphans and identity, into a fantastic plot and handles the story so well that you just can't wait to get to the end * Tracy Chevalier *
High spirited and utterly compelling -- Robert McCrum * Observer *
Serious entertainment... One of the most startling plot twists you'll ever read -- Nick Hornby * The Times *
A thrillerish plot, fast-moving with umpteen cunning twists, it is inhabited by richly human characters whose fortunes instantly engage the reader * Sunday Telegraph *
Fingersmith's tight and intricate plotting and full-flavour characters follow in a fine tradition of gothic storytelling, full of love, villains and intrigue -- Jane Perry * Observer *
This disquietingly twisted tale will engross -- Isobel Montgomery * Guardian *
Deliciously brazen... A smart and seductive enchantment * Los Angeles Times *
Fingersmith is the third slice of engrossing lesbian Victoriana from Sarah Waters. Although lighter and more melodramatic in tone than its predecessor Affinity, this hypnotic suspense novel is awash with all manner of gloomy Dickensian leitmotifs * Travis Elborough *
Oliver Twist with a twist... Waters spins an absorbing tale that withholds as much as it discloses... A pulsating story * New York Times Book Review *
Superb storytelling. Fingersmith is gripping; so suspenseful and twisting is the plot that for the last 250 pages, I read at breakneck speed * USA Today *
A deftly plotted thriller... absorbing and elegant * Entertainment Weekly *
A marvelous pleasure... Waters's noted attention to historical detail and her beautifully sensitive dialogue help to anchor the force-five plot twisters * Washington Post *
Calls to mind the feverishly gloomy haunts of Charlotte and Emily Bronte... Elaborate and satisfying * Seattle Times *
A richly woven tale of duplicity and passion... nobody writing today surpasses the precocious Waters's virtuosic handling of narrative complexity and thickly textured period detail. This is a marvelous novel * Kirkus *
A sweeping read * Boston Globe *
Astonishing narrative twists * Newsday *

  • Winner of CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award 2002 (UK)
  • Short-listed for Orange Prize for Fiction 2002 (UK)

ISBN: 9781860498831

Dimensions: 198mm x 131mm x 37mm

Weight: 436g

560 pages