Tipping the Velvet

"Lavishly crammed with the songs, smells, and costumes of late Victorian England" (The Daily Telegraph), this delicious, steamy debut novel chronicles the adventures of Nan King, who begins life as an oyster girl in the provincial seaside town of Whitstable and whose fortunes are forever changed when she falls in love with a cross-dressing music-hall singer named Miss Kitty But...

"Lavishly crammed with the songs, smells, and costumes of late Victorian England" (The Daily Telegraph), this delicious, steamy debut novel chronicles the adventures of Nan King, who begins life as an oyster girl in the provincial seaside town of Whitstable and whose fortunes are forever changed when she falls in love with a cross-dressing music-hall singer named Miss Kitty Butler. When Kitty is called up to London for an engagement on "Grease Paint Avenue, " Nan follows as her dresser and secret lover, and, soon after, dons trousers herself and joins the act.

In time, Kitty breaks her heart, and Nan assumes the guise of butch roue to commence her own thrilling and varied sexual education--a sort of Moll Flanders in drag--finally finding friendship and true love in the most unexpected places.

Drawing comparison to the work of Jeanette Winterson, Sarah Waters's novel is a feast for the senses--an erotic, lushly detailed historical that bursts with life and dazzlingly casts the turn of the century in a different light.

"An unstoppable read, a sexy and picaresque romp through the lesbian and queer demi-monde of the roaring Nineties. It's gorgeous." --The Independent on Sunday (UK)

萨拉·沃特斯 | 1966年出生于英国威尔士，文学博士。

三度入围“布克奖”，两度入围“莱思纪念奖”。

曾获“贝蒂·特拉斯克文学奖”、“毛姆文学奖”。

被《星期日泰晤士报》评为“年度青年作家”（2000）、文学杂志《格兰塔》选为“20位当代最好的青年英语作家”之一（2003）、“英国图书奖”评为“年度作家”（2003）等，文学评论界称其为“当今活着的英语作家中最会讲故事的作家”。