Tipping The Velvet

Reviews / Votes

Intelligent, witty and stylish, the novel re-imagines a lost lesbian history through vivid sensual detail, evocative period slang (the title is a sexual euphemism) and a satisfyingly complex plot * Independent * Waters is an extremely confident writer, combining precise, sensuous descriptions with irony and wit. This is a lively, gutsy, highly readable debut * Observer * An unstoppable read, a sexy and picaresque romp through the lesbian and queer demi-monde of the roaring Nineties. Imagine Jeanette Winterson on a good day collaborating with Judith Butler to pen a Sapphic Moll Flanders. It's gorgeous * Independent on Sunday * This could be the most important debut of its kind since that of Jeanette Winterson * Daily Telegraph * An extremely confident writer, combining precise, sensuous descriptions with irony and wit in a skilled, multi-layered pastiche of the lesbian historical romance -- Christina Patterson * Observer * Erotic and absorbing... Written with startling power * New York Times Book Review * Wonderful... a sensual experience that leaves the reader marveling at the author's craftsmanship, idiosyncrasy, and sheer effort * San Francisco Chronicle * Compelling... readers of all sexes and orientations should identify with this gutsy hero as she learns who she is and how to love * Newsday * Delectable... written in roguishly lilting prose filled with the sights, sounds and stenches of London street life * Seattle Times * Glorious... an exceptional debut * Boston Globe * Richly entertaining... Waters's debut offers terrific entertainment: swiftly paced, crammed with colorful depictions of 1890s London and vividly sketched Dickensian supporting characters, pulsating with highly charged (and explicitly presented) erotic heat * Kirkus * This lush tale fearlessly and feverishly exposes the political, social and sexual subversions of Victorian-era gender-benders: sapphists, libertines and passing women... Waters is a masterful storyteller... Nancy's search for love and identity is a raucous, passionate adventure and a rare, thrilling read * Publishers Weekly * If you need your smut to be smart as well as steamy, Waters' 1998 debut might be right up your alley, so to speak. Imagine if Charles Dickens had been brave enough to centre lesbians and strap-ons in his work, and you're getting somewhere close to the brutal beauty and acerbic wit Waters conjures up on every page * i Paper * Groundbreaking . . . the way Waters writes female desire is enjoyable, to quote one gay woman of my acquaintance, "regardless of persuasion" -- Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett * Good Housekeeping *