No 526 Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters (Book 2 of #20booksofsummer)
Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters debut novel is a rich and hugely entertaining picaresque romp through the lesbian world of Victorian London.

Following the literal and metaphorical journey of Nan Astley from her sheltered family life in the seaside town of Whitstable to treading the boards in the music halls of London, Tipping the Velvet is a novel about self-creation and discovery, the fiction of making yourself up.
It is 1890 and Nancy Astley lives with her family in Whitstable, working in the family oyster parlour. Visiting the Canterbury Palace, she becomes smitten with male impersonator Kitty Butler, who soon notices her young admirer and takes her on as her official ‘dresser’.
“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…”
Before long, the pair are lovers and are whisked off to London by agent Walter Bliss where they become a highly successful double act, their closeness on stage mirroring their secret closeness in the bedroom. Nancy changes her name to Nan King and is so happy in her relationship with Kitty that she cannot imagine anyone not accepting their love.
We fitted together like the two halves of an oyster-shell. I was Narcissus, embracing the pond in which I was about to drown. However much we had to hide our love, however guarded we had to be about our pleasure, I could not long be miserable about a thing so very sweet. Nor, in my gladness, could I quite believe that anybody would be anything but happy for me if only they knew.
Her happiness is short-lived though and a denunciation from her sister and Kitty’s own shame about their relationship will shatter not only Nan’s career, but also briefly, her life.
Nan’s story is told in three parts – all exploring different stages of her life and her sexuality. Over seven years, she loves and loses Kitty; struggles to survive by disguising herself as a young man hustling for paid sexual encounters and becomes the ‘kept’ lover of the wealthy but selfish Diana Lethaby.
It is only when she reaches her lowest point that she starts to discover her true self and her true love, working as a housekeeper for socialist charity worker Florence Banner.
Tipping the Velvet is terrifically entertaining. It is sharply paced, barreling along through colourful and detailed depictions of 1890s London and featuring even more colourful characters. Even the slightest of players is wonderfully sketched, creating a Dickensian world that is vivid and enthralling. The world of music hall is particularly well portrayed.
Nan’s emotional journey, from her wish to be a regular girl through to her need for ‘desperate pleasures’, is highly charged and erotic, but not as explicit as one might imagine it could have been.
It is a lovely touch to have Nan start life working in an oyster parlour – the imagery of those shellfish aphrodisiacs saturating the whole novel. Oysters are neither male nor female and can change sex throughout their lives. Wait long enough and they will produce a pearl.

Undoubtedly Tipping the Velvet is a lesbian novel – probably the most outright lesbian works of Waters oeuvre – but it is also so much more. It is a love letter to Victorian London, wonderfully evoking all aspects of London life from the back alleys of Soho to the most expensive boxes at the Opera House. It is written in a filmic manner, with the sights and smells of the London streets springing to life through Waters’ sure hand as she confidently presents the hidden history of lesbian life.
The book is let down slightly by the ending, which tries a little too hard to tie up all the loose ends and is particularly hard on the feckless Kitty, but as an exploration of love and a call for acceptance of all kinds of relationships, it succeeds wonderfully.
A double act is always twice the act that the audience thinks it; beyond our songs, our steps, our bits of business with coins and canes and flowers, there was a private language, in which we held an endless, delicate exchange of which the crowd knew nothing. This was a language not of the tongue but of the body, its vocabulary the pressure of a finger or a palm, the nudging of a hip, the holding or breaking of a gaze…It was as if we walked before the crimson curtain, lay down upon the boards and kissed and fondled – and were clapped, and cheered, and paid for it!
Tipping the Velvet is a wonderfully evocative historical novel – has anyone seen the TV adaptation? I’m keen to check it out.
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20 Books of Summer: 2/20

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Cathy746books View All →
I am a 40 something book buying addict trying to reduce the backlog one book at a time!
Lovely review, Cathy. I much prefer Waters earlier novels.
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I think this is the one of hers I’ve most enjoyed.
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A very tempting review, Cathy. I enjoyed Waters’s The Paying Guests, but for some reason haven’t managed to get back to her.
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I liked The Paying Guests too, but this one is really great fun.
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This sounds wonderful, I really much check out more Waters. The only novel of hers that I’ve read is The Night Watch which I mostly liked, but I also got the impression that she could do a lot better.
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I’ve read all her novels now and I must say that this was probably the most enjoyable. I highly recommend Fingersmith as well.
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Fingersmith is the only one I own so I think that’s next up for me!
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Wonderful review Cathy and I like this cover. Good job with your 20 books. I haven’t read any of mine yet. 😊
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Still plenty of time!
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Thanks for this great review! I thought Fingersmith was genius, also Affinity and have been meaning to read Tipping the Velvet. This is very motivating.
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I loved Fingersmith and Affinity too – I think you’ll enjoy this one.
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I read this years ago and liked it enough to read some of her other books, the tv adaption isn’t bad either! 😉
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Good to know – I must try and get hold of it to watch.
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This is my favourite book by Sarah Waters – and I’ve read them all (though, this was the first). I’m glad you’re reading the novel before watching the TV adaption. Much as I enjoyed the drama, I felt it lacked some of the novel’s original gusto. The actress playing Kitty (while very good), didn’t seem quite right for the role. Having said that, I would definitely recommend you watch the adaption. I’m simply nitpicking because it’s one of my favourite books! 🤭
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Funny, I’ve now read all her novels too but came to this one last! I did love it. Adaptations are never going to be perfect but I do think I’ll watch it if I get the chance. Have you seen The Little Stranger? I thought it was well done.
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I haven’t seen The Little Stanger but enjoyed the book. To be honest, I’d forgotten it had been adapted until now. I really must seek it out.
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I still haven’t read anything by Waters, and there are so many to choose from that I don’t know which one to pick first. However, this sounds like a good candidate, as well as Fingersmith. I had the impression that her books had some kind of murder/mystery in them, but it doesn’t sound like this one has…
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If I remember rightly, Fingersmith does. The Little Stranger is a ghost story and very unlike the rest of her books. I’ve enjoyed them all, but this and Fingersmith are particularly good.
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Glad you enjoyed this – I think it’s her weakest work, but still great fun. IIRC, Waters has said that she finds the wish fulfillment ending quite embarrassing now!
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That’s interesting to hear Laura – it just felt like she was trying too hard to give everything a proper conclusion
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This is the only one of hers I’ve read and I did enjoy it, even though it’s officially a historical novel, which is not my favoured genre. Very well researched and believable. Well done on your 2 books of summer, too. I’m on exactly 0.5 right now …
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I’m not overly keen on historical novels either Liz but found this to be really entertaining.
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I’ve yet to read any Waters, which is my loss, I fear. I shall have to root around in our local library and bookshop in the autumn, clearly.
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Hope you get to read her soon.
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While I only know this one via the TV adaptation, I do think it’s one of SW’s best stories. Funnily enough, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus as I was reading your review – Fevvers in particular!
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Yes, I know what you mean!
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Sarah Waters is one of those authors I’m inexplicably yet to read, and yet I’m convinced I’ll love her.
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I think you will too Callum! This is a good place to start, although I’m also fond of The Little Stranger.
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Hey Cathy – I haven’t read any books by Sarah Waters – thanks for the introduction! Glad you’re making progress on your summer reading 🙂
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Thanks – all going to plan so far!
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I so enjoyed this, I read it when it first came out and its made me pick up every Waters book since. Its so exuberant! I agree with Paula, the TV adaptation isn’t as good but still definitely worth a look.
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She’s such a great writer, isn’t she? We’ve got to be due a new one soon I hope!
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I tried to read Fingersmith when it was all the rage but got halfway though and was so bored that I couldn’t go on. As a consequence I’ve given her other work a miss. But I like the idea of this celebrating Victorian London am perhaps I might try her again.
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THis one is pretty entertaining and moves along at a real pace, so might work more for you.
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Thanks for this, Cathy. I’m sure I have this *somewhere* so I must dig it out. I meant to read it before the TV adaptation, which was quite entertaining, but still haven’t got around to it! Good to see your #20BooksofSummer coming along so well too 😀
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Thanks! I’ve heard mixed reports about the TV adaptation, but think I’ll give it a go.
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I’ve been meaning to read one of her books for a long time now. Great review, Cathy!
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Thanks Laila, she’s a great writer – lots of detail and really vivid descriptions.
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A new-to-me author who I’ve added to my list. Sounds like your summer reading is going well 😀
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Going to plan so far Rose, but still lots of time for it to derail completely!!
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