Fingersmith
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Book Overview
Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby's household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves--fingersmiths--for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home. One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives--Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a na ve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud's vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of--passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum. With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways...But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.
Related Subjects
13 - 17 Years Fiction Girls & Women Peer Pressure Social & Family Issues Teen & Young Adult
Customer Reviews
Rated 5 starsSuspenseful and Erotic
Absolutely delicious with thrills and betrayal and the world is expertly crafted. Love this author.
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Rated 5 starsGripping Story!!!
I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, it's difficult to find excellent historical fiction especially if the story told is spun so elegantly. It's twist after twist after twist and it all works out! It's my new favorite book!!
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Rated 5 starsThe only question is...why didn't it win the Booker???
"Fingersmith" is the first Sarah Water's book I've delved into, partly because I've been scarred by terrible Victorian fiction in the past, and partly because I was afraid how her novel's would treat their overtly lesbian material. I was overjoyed to find it subtle and touching, without any signs of being tainted by public perceptions of lesbian relationships. "Fingersmith" is a multitude of things. It is a mystery, a thriller,...
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Rated 5 starsPure storytelling of the highest order !
Sarah Waters' third novel "Fingersmith" is both a critical and popular favourite. It has been shortlisted for several book awards including the Booker Prize. Waters herself has attracted much attention from literary circles since the publication of her first two novels "Tipping The Velvet" and "Affinity", both of which have won her many accolades. The former has even been made into a TV movie by the BBC. So what's the fuss...
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Rated 5 starsPickpocketing the Pages of History
Sarah Waters' third novel begins simply enough. Sue Trinder is a teenage orphan who lives amongst a group of confidence men, thieves, baby farmers and fingersmiths (a 19th-century term for a pickpockets). An unscrupulous man commonly and ironically known as Gentleman compels Sue to join in his plot to win the heart of an elderly bookish man's niece named Maud. Maud is heiress to a fortune, but she can only claim it if she...
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