Affinity (urspr publ 1999; utgåvan 2000)

I picked this up expecting it to be entertaining fluff like 'Tipping the Velvet', but I was actually far more impressed by this than I was by Waters' first novel. The protagonist here is far more likeable than Nan, in my opinion, and there is a darker feel to the book, due in part to it being set in a prison, but also due to the plot itself. ( )

This book is a masterpiece of plot, characterization, and style. But it made my heart hurt too much for me to love it. ( )

Another Victorian gothic from Waters. This one certainly can't be described as a thriller, as its pace is slow and fairly lacking in drama. I kept waiting to get a hint of what she was up to, and when I thought I had, she finally revealed the twist, and then I felt a little stupid not to have suspected something. The ultimate ending, however, did not surprise me. The narrator is Margaret Prior, a troubled young woman who has suffered a mental breakdown ending in a suicide attempt after her father's death. The rest of her family doesn't get her at all, and shows very little interest in trying to. There are hints of a romantic attachment to the woman who eventually married Margaret's brother; her sister Priscilla is totally absorbed in plans for her own wedding and honeymoon trip to Italy, while Mother is only concerned with propriety and appearances. Margaret takes up the role of "Lady Visitor" at the women's wards Millbank Prison, which is as gothic and horrid a hell-hole as you can imagine. The details of life for women convicted of everything from petty theft to murder are grimly fascinating, if you are of a mind to be fascinated by such things. Margaret naturally becomes somewhat unnaturally attached to one woman, who introduces her to the concept of spiritualism (meaning contact with the dead). This can't end well, we know, but Margaret finds her visits with Selina to be high points in her dreary life, and she begins to imagine a future...well, that's enough. If you're in the mood to drift along through a couple hundred pages of good writing where nothing much happens, to get to the "aha" moment, this is a decent read. Not up to Waters' best efforts (Tipping the Velvet or Fingersmith), but not many things are. ( )

This was so wonderfully written that I cried at the horrifyingly cruel ending.
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William James MEOW Date: Sunday, July 15. 12014 H.E. (Holocene Era) ( )

This was so wonderfully written that I cried at the horrifyingly cruel ending.
Serve Community
William James MEOW Date: Sunday, July 15. 12014 H.E. (Holocene Era) ( )