Joint Musings: Fingersmith

Title:  Fingersmith

Author:  Sarah Waters

# of Pages:  582

Publisher:  Riverhead

Plot Summary:

Susan is a petty thief in London, living what she thinks is an ideal life.  Until Gentleman comes to her and her adopted family with a proposition- to entice a naive country lady into marriage with Gentleman, throw her into a mental institution, and abscond with her fortune.

Maud is that country lady, but she is not naive.  She is tired of her life in the country, locked up in her uncle's home with no power or authority.  In Gentleman, she sees a way to escape.

But things, for both ladies, don't turn out quite as they expect, and this novel is full of twists and turns that will make your head whirl.

A short plot summary, but it's hard to summarize when there are so many potential spoilers!

The below review is done jointly between Kailana and I.  See the first half of our discussion on her blog here, and then come back here for the conclusion.  My thoughts are in green and hers are in black:

I was expecting a lesbian relationship because that is one of the common themes in Waters' books. I was surprised that it wasn't more of a major theme than it was, though. I thought it was tastefully done, though, and if it played more of a theme than I probably wouldn't have liked the book as well. I am not big on romance novels. I am looking forward to read more from Waters next year, actually. The two books by her that I don't own are all ready on my 'buy with Christmas money' list. I think I am reading one of them with Ana from things mean a lot, but I can't remember what at the moment! Anyways, I agree on it being natural and built on trust.

As to my favourite character, I am like you. I can't really say who I enjoyed. I thought that Maud and Susan both had redeeming characteristics, so I actually liked both of them. Maud and her reading appealed to me at first. Then, though, there was everything that happened afterwards that made me not so fond of the reading anymore. I don't really want to say a lot because it is a potential big spoiler. Really, I could gush on and on about the characters and their stories and everything that came to pass, but if others want to read this book without knowing everything that happens I guess I cannot say nearly anything that I would love to say!

Yes, I know exactly what you mean!  It's hard with a book that has so many twists and turns to review it without spoilers.  I agree with you on the romance aspect- I expected it to be a more prominent plot piece, but I think the book succeeded really well with it being pushed pretty far away from mainstage because we got to see the characters on their own, and get to know them individually, rather than as two halves of a whole couple.

I thought that Waters did well with the settings, too.  The old, decrepit country house that was so dark and gloomy, where Maud spent so much time trying to keep her mother's grave clean.  The way the Thames by the house was so thin and weak, whereas in London it was so wide and busy.  Seeing London as a frightening and dirty place that was kind of the end of the road for a lot of people.  And the idea now that someone living only about 40 miles from such a huge city but never having been there is so hard to fathom, but just again goes to show the level of isolation women felt.  And then the scenes in the institution were written so well, too, and just make a reader ache to read.  Just great writing style all around!  Do you agree?

Oh, yes, I felt like I was there! I think she is fantastic all around writer. Not only did I feel like I really got to know the characters, but I felt like I was there. Even now that it has been a couple days since I finished the book I can close my eyes and picture the story through her description. I have never seen anything that she mentioned myself, but I feel like I almost have now. She is the sort of author that does not waste a word, but at the same time she is not long-winded either. She has just the right balance. Plus, she throws in the twists and turns, so just when you are starting to feel 'safe' you have another moment to consider what just happened! Talking about the book gets me very excited. I have read a lot of really good books this year, but I was feeling like I was lacking in the 'wow' books. The type of books that you are very sad to see end and that you want to reread again because you miss it all ready. That was this book for me! Reading this book was an experience and I cannot wait to have another one! I am not going to let it be two years this time!

That's great!  I love "wow" factor books, too.  I will have to think back over everything I read for my year-end wrap-up post.  I think Waters will be on the list of "newly discovered but long-on-my-shelf" authors.  A great book- I can't really add to your description above, so I'll just say "hear, hear!"  Thanks for reviewing it with me- it's definitely the sort of book that is fun to discuss with someone else, so I'm glad we did this!

Well, she won't be alone on my 'wow' list. There have been a couple others, but judging the total read compared to how many there are it is not really a very large amount! This was fun! And, it is about time we read a book together. Now, we need another one...