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Showing posts with label gay and lesbian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gay and lesbian. Show all posts
24 December 2015
Title
| Tipping the Velvet |
Author
| Sarah Waters |
Publisher
| Virago |
Publication Date
|
1998
|
Pages
| 480 |
Genre
| historical romance |
Description (from Amazon)
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'.
My thoughts
I loved this book! And it affirmed my love for Sarah Waters. This was the second book of hers I bought. My first one was Fingersmith which was an impulse buy in a book shop, and as I loved this book, I then looked for more of Sarah Waters and was not disappointed.
Tipping the Velvet is a historical romance book and the story of a lesbian self-discovery, telling the story of Nancy 'Nan' Astley aka Nancy King and set mainly in London's East End during Victorian times.
Nancy lives with her family of sell Oysters in their restaurant in Herne Bay, and can't imagine nothing else but to eventually marry her boyfriend and live as an oyster girl in Kent. But then she visits the the local theatre and sees Kitty Butler, a male impersonator, and though she doesn't know it initially, falls in love. She joins Kitty and stage and the two become not only a double act but also lovers. But there is no happy end in this relationship. But Nan is a survivor, and she will have many more adventures and loves to live in Victorian London.
I loved reading Nan's story, and how she makes her way. I also found the descriptions of London and life at the time fascinating. From the theatre scene to 'lady's club' to rent boys to political activists, all packed into this page turner.
Yes, there are some lesbian love scenes, but they are by no means explicit, but very tasteful (pardon the pun). The developing romance(s) for Nan are like any other romances really told often before, from madly in love, being hurt, and finally finding a soul mate, and all this in prude Victorian London!
13 February 2014
Title
|
Fingersmith
|
Author
| Sarah Waters |
Publisher
| Riverhead Trade |
Publication Date
|
01 October 2002
|
Pages
| 582 |
Genre
| Crime fiction, historical fiction |
A colleague recommended Sarah Waters to me, and this is the book I picked up in the book shop. I can't remember why I chose this title, but just that I thought 'Ok, I'll give it a go. Historical fiction (even if with a twist, as here), in my opinion, can be a bit hit and miss and can quickly turn into a history lesson which is fine if this is what you are after. Not so this book which entertained me from the first page.
The book is separated in three parts. In part one, we get introduced to Sue who is an orphan young woman, living in Victorian London with Mrs Sucksby who brought her up. Now Mrs Sucksby has many orphans under her wing in a Fagan-style operation who work as 'Fingersmith's' = petty thieves. Richard 'Gentleman' Rives arrives at Mrs Sucksby's to propose a scam, and Sue is told that she will have to assist 'Gentleman' who wants to seduce wealthy heiress Maud Lilley and marry her for money, than declare her insane and commit her to an asylum to claim her money. So 'gentleman' sets Sue up to work as a maid with Maud who lives with her uncle in a secluded country home. Maud is kept in the house by her uncle and she helps him compile and take care of his library. The two women are of similar age and slowly, an attraction and passion starts to develop between those two. But Sue is, of course, too aware that she has been sent here to scam Maud and can't help but think: is she doing the right thing?
If you have not read the book and don't know anything further about it, I would very much urge you not to read full reviews of the book if you want to enjoy it fully. The reason is that, from Part 2, the story completely turns on it's head and many things are not like they seem (including the library of Maud's uncle). It took me so much by surprise, I could't believe what I was reading. And that's why I deliberately will not tell you anything else about where this story goes. I can almost guarantee that you won't be able to put it down. I went out straight after and bought all the other Sarah Water's which were available. Yes, you could say I'm a fan. :)
About the Author (taken from Amazon)
Biography
Sarah Waters was born in Wales in 1966 and lives in London. Author of Tipping the Velvet, Affinity, Fingersmith and The Night Watch, her most recent book is The Little Stranger. All of her books have attracted prizes: she won a Betty Trask Award, the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice shortlisted for the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. Fingersmith and The Night Watch were both shortlisted for the Man Booker and Orange prizes, and Fingersmith won the CWA Ellis Peters Dagger Award for Historical Crime Fiction and the South Bank Show Award for Literature. Tipping the Velvet, Affinity and Fingersmith have all been adapted for television.
8 February 2014
Title
|
As Meat Loves Salt
|
Author
| Maria McCann |
Publisher
| Forth Estate (Kindle Edition) |
Publication Date
|
28 April 2011
|
Pages
| 586 |
Genre
| history, gay romance, erotica |
This was Maria McCann's first published book, and I was introduced to it via a book club at my Uni at the time. Up to than, I had been quite a 'commercial book reader'. By that I mean that I would usually read the top 10 or books which were heavily publicised. I'm happy to report that that has now changes and I'm so glad that now I've been introduced to and enjoyed so many brilliant books / authors who are not so well known.
Back to McCann's debut novel. I would describe as a cross between historical fiction and gay romance/love story. The story is set during the time of the English Civil War (1642-1651), and Oliver Cromwell's Army. The main protagonist is Jacob Cullen, manservant and recently married, he joins the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell. Already within the first chapter, Jacob shows he is no stranger to violence (having killed someone when angry), he rapes his wife whom he drags with her, leaving her in the woods. He survives the battlefield and meets idealist 'thinker' Christopher Ferris in Cromwell's army. The two desert and flee to Ferris' London home, miles away from Jacob's poor upbringing and not just by distance. Passion starts to build up between the two so different man but Jacob is controlling and consumed with jealousy and when Ferris wants to set up a commune, Jacob is not happy and would rather continue their life in London. Ferris does not give in this time and will go through with building up the commune. A love-hate relationship in the turmoils of a very unstable and war-torn England.
I think it is very rare for an author to create a violent and controlling character and we still feel for Jacob. Ferris, on the other hand, is very genteel. I think we would also need to keep in mind that this is the 17th Century and what was acceptable than may not be now in respect of violence. Also, homosexuality was a crime punishable with hanging. I wanted so much that things turn out fine for them, though deep down I probably knew their love is doomed. The character studies of the two man were my favourite part of the book, also how McCann manages to describe the building passion tension between the two. If you are not normally reading gay romance, than this is not a problem. It is certainly one, but by no means the only element of this book, and the scenes are described beautifully - less is more here, the book doesn't need details descriptions of sex scenes.
It is also clear that a huge amount of research must have gone into the book. Apart from the historical details, I could feel the pains of the battlefields and probably learned more about the English Civil War than any non-fiction history book could give me. This book stayed with me a long time after finishing the last page, and it's one to go on my 'will-re-read-one-day' list.
Anything I didn't like about the book: the cover. I'm sorry, I didn't get the picture of the lady at all in connection with the book, intact, the only connection seems to be the clothes she wears which go with the time period? Maybe it is to signal historic fiction?
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