My all time favourite, formative queer historical novel. I adore this book so much. A heartpounding journey of youthful exploration, taking risks, making mistakes, falling in love and finding your feet. Sarah Waters is an icon.

This book i read because it was made in a BBC drama which i really enjoyed and then read this book after.

This story was beautifully written and i fell in love with all the characters and the story around them.

Since reading this i have read all her others and watched all the other dramas and movie since.

I will read r this author again if and when she writes any new work

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

Absorbing and complex, I loved seeing how Nan adapted to her life in Victorian London and discovered who she was. I'm so glad I have finally read this book by Sarah Waters its been on the top of my reading list for many years now after seeing the tv adaptation and it did not let me down.

I would like to thank netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A lesbian classic.

I enjoyed this look at lesbian Victorian London, it really bought forward a history that has been hidden. Nancy really pulls you in, and pulls you along with her story.

Any LGBTQA+ book is something that I want to read and potentially put into our stock to ensure that all of our readers can see themselves reflected in what they read.

Whilst this is a historical fiction (which isn’t really my thing) the story is captivating and I’ll definitely be recommending.

As with all Sarah Waters' novels this is an exciting romp through another slice of Victorian life. My favourite of hers is The Paying Guests but this is equally enjoyable.

(Ignore the star rating. Star ratings suck.)


Title: Tipping the Velvet

Author: Sarah Waters

Genres: Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+ (see below for rep,) (Modern) Classics, Romance(-ish)

A Few Starting Notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book via NetGalley in celebration of the 20th anniversary (2018) edition of Tipping the Velvet (this review is a little late – oops!)

My reviews are honest and fair.

Ok dearest nerdlets!

The format of this review is gonna be just a touch different to my normal review format, cos it didn’t work for this book, and I’m a rebel. #DealWithIt

Plus, I’m trying to review Tipping the Velvet – a true Queer classic – so cut me some slack, k? 😉😎

There are some very mild spoilers in this review.

I’ve kept them uber-vague and you shouldn’t actually be able to tell any plot-points from them, they were just necessary in order to discuss some of the themes – so consider this your warning!

The Premise:

Nancy Astley is an Oyster Girl – her family are oyster catchers and run an oyster restaurant. 

Literally everything in her life is oysters.

Then she sees Kitty, a Drag King, perform on stage… and her whole life changes.

Before she knows it, there is no longer a Nancy Astley – now she is Nan King, male impersonator, and nothing will ever be the same.

LGBTQ+ Rep:

So. Much. Complex. Rep.

*bows before greatness of this book*

Waters bring together a vibrant ensemble of lesbians and other women who love women.

Unapologetic Victorian Toms (sapphic women) abound, from the feminine to the butch and everything in between, and it’s truly awesome to have this many Queer ladies in one book.

These are flawed, beautiful, cruel, kind, gentle, rough, complex women, and the depth and range of characters is totally awesome!

There is also, though, a refusal to bow to neat little boxes in terms of both sexuality and gender.
Kitty, for example, has relationships with both men and women, with no definition of her sexuality provided.

This both fits in with the time period, and allows Kitty to exist beyond the labels that are given to her.

It’s also amazing to see Drag Kings here – a tradition of 'male impersonators' that is centuries old but tends to get overshadowed by the more well-known Drag Queens.

(Not that we don’t love a good Drag Queen! Slay sweeties!)

Nan herself has a complex gender identity, where she (as our narrator,) speaks honestly about feeling like she exists between genders.

He also uses male pronouns at various times, both when he’s performing as a Drag King and when he enters the world of Queer men, during which time he has sexual relationships with other men.

During one of her relationships he uses both male and female pronouns, and presents at various times as both man and woman, with several variations on the femininity and masculinity of each.

This also touches on the way different gender presentations can lead the people around him to have completely different views on who s/he is, and how they should behave towards him.

Nan doesn’t use clothes as her identity, but rather uses them to reflect who s/he is in that moment, and how s/he’d like to be treated; this also brings her liberty when navigating the highly sexist world of Victorian London. 

Not all of Nan’s relationships and experiences are positive, and one particular partner uses gendered clothing, and her gender identity, against her, as well as acting in other abusive ways.

This partner treats Nan’s gender identity as both a novelty and a means of power, parading him in front of her friends, and delighting in scandalising them.

The popular notion of this book as being about cisgender lesbians therefore does its scope and complexity, in terms of both gender and sexuality, a disservice.

(Although, given that this book was published 20 years ago, it’s hardly surprising that this simplistic assessment is what’s stuck in the public consciousness.)


The Time Period:

This book does an excellent job of fully immersing the reader in the period without letting it get in the way of the story.

It also uses historical truths – such as the usually-hidden Queer community and often-forgotten Drag Kings – to shake the reader’s expectations and change the way we look at Victorian society.

This shows a part of history which is very much factual, but which we still, to this day, don’t hear about.

The Oysters:

Ok, this point is a little nit-picky. And I fully admit that.

BUT, while I totally get the… symbolism… of the oysters, as a life-long vegetarian, I couldn’t help but find eating and/or cooking a creature alive distasteful in the extreme.

So, while it’s clearly meant to be sexy, I found it a MAJOR turn-off. #JustSaying.

(In case you don’t know, both oysters and the title ‘Tipping the Velvet’ have a double meaning which refers to sex-acts in cisgender F/F relationships (amongst others.))

Content Warnings:

This is one of those books that does manage to cover a sh**-tonne of ground, so be aware of the following:

- homophobia 
- transphobia 
- sexism 
- classism 
- sex work 
- poverty/destitution 
- implied Depression 
- abusive relationships (mental, physical, sexual) 
- consent issues/borderline sexual assault 
- unhealthy BDSM dynamic 
- grief 
- homelessness 
- estrangement from family

...I think that’s everything, but as always, be careful when reading!

There’s also graphic sex – so head’s up for that!

The Verdict:

This is book is awesome!

For sheer enjoyment value, I’d actually recommend Affinity, also by Sarah Waters, over Tipping the Velvet (albeit Affinity goes to some Very Dark Places.)

But, for impact, enduring resonance, and more complex and saturation-levels of rep. than we’re used to seeing, even 20 years on, this can’t be beat.

This book was a game-changer then, and it remains one now.

Do yourself a favour and, if you can, Read. This. Book!

This book is just a classic. I love the writing style and I would recommend that everyone read this book. I now want to read more Sarah Waters books.

I have read another 2 of Sarah Water's books and really enjoyed them, so I thought I would give this one a go also. I believe it is one of the earlier ones if not the first. I did enjoy it. The descriptions and depth of explanations into things that set the period of the book were very well written and very enjoyable. Things like the clothing, language used. The music halls and slums all added to the period feel of the book. I did however start to hurry over some of the book as the main character did seem to go on quiet a lot and I really just wanted to get one with the story line to find out what was happening. Overall a good story but The Paying Guests is still my favourite out of the ones I have read so far. Will try others.

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Fans of Sarah Waters will not be disappointed as this book delivers exactly what we have come to expect from this talented writer - an evocative historical setting with an exciting character driven story of self-discovery. Brilliant.

What can I possibly say about this book that hasn't already been said? Exquisite prose, fabulous characters, flawless plotting - it's sexy, funny, moving and thought provoking all in equal measure. Telling the story of Nancy Astley as she leaves her family oyster business in Kent to pursue a life on the stage (and the love of Miss Kitty Butler), Waters creates a masterful exploration of Victorian London, from the music hall, to the decadence of wealthy widows, to the earnest fight for socialism. The prose is outstanding and the narrative is so thoroughly entertaining from line one to the end. All in all, this is an absolute classic and if you haven't read it yet, you really really should!
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I wanted to love Tipping the Velvet but didn't. Somehow every time I sat down to read I ended up being distracted by something for tempting.

Having previously read and enjoyed Sarah Waters' books Fingersmith and Affinity, it was high old time I got around reading her most famous (or is it infamous!) book, Tipping the Velvet - especially now it is 20 years old!

I love the way that she writes, drawing you into the Victorian world, with all its contradictions and simmering, hidden passions.

I actually found this book rather touching. This is a great and absorbing read and I can highly recommend it.

A very controversial book, but how amazing!! A very detailed story with spectacular writing. Sarah Waters never disappoints. A dazzling tale with very real characters.

I'm the biggest ever Sarah Waters fangirl but, while this was so readable and entertaining, you can tell it's her debut. Having read the work of sublime genius that is Fingersmith I think I simply hold all Sarah Waters' work to the same standard, even if it's a work of mid-level genius.

Every bit as good as I was hoping. I've read one other book by Sarah Waters, but had never got round to this one. It didn't disappoint. A sort of rags to riches tale, loves lost, loves found, and quite a bit of racy stuff in between. Well written, the characters were easy to imagine. What a complex world it was though, with all the cross dressing, and codes, and confusion at times, that enabled women to hide behind a facade, to be who they really wanted to be. Throughly enjoyed it, and I'll be reading more of Sarah's books.

Ever since moving to the UK I’ve been feeling like I’m the only person in this country who hasn’t read any Sarah Waters books. I’ve had Fingersmith on my TBR for a while, but I sometimes find that if I read an author’s later works and then go back to their first novel I tend to enjoy the reading experience less than if I do it the other way around, so when I saw Tipping the Velvet on netgalley I decided it was time to read some Sarah Waters. Tipping the Velvet follows Nancy, an oyster girl who moves to London to be Kitty Butler’s (a male impersonator in music halls) dresser. The book is divided into 3 sections, each of them having a main lesbian “romance” and culminating with all the characters finding themselves in the same place at once for reasons I still don’t understand. I didn’t like Nan’s character, and I felt more like erotica than a novel which it’s probably top on my list of things I don’t enjoy reading. That said, I did enjoy the start of the book and about half of the last section, which is the only reason I’m giving it a low 3 stars as opposed to 2.

Nancy Astley was born in Whitstable, Kent in the late nineteenth century. She's from an ordinary, hard working family, and from a very young age she helped in her parents fish restaurant shucking oysters until her fingers were red raw with the icy cold water, used to keep the oysters fresh, but it was all she knew and she was happy with her life. She was loved by her parents and siblings alike, but when she entered her teens, the bright lights of a nearby music hall began to call to her. She loved the variety acts that performed there, but the momentous night that she watched a male impersonator named Kitty, well, that was to be the night that saw her turn her back on her loving family, and take her into a world that would put dear old coastal Whitstable and the Astley family firmly in the past.

This is a story of girl meets girl, as Nancy and Kitty begin a new life together amidst the bright ( and sometimes not so bright ) lights of London and its music halls. The author is truly gifted and describes the sights and sounds backstage that made me reminisce about my visits many years ago to the City Varieties in Leeds in the north of England, built in 1865, it's a theatre that is as authentic a music hall as it's possible to get these days. However, I digress, so onto the storyline - Nancy wants much more from Kitty, but Kitty is afraid that people will discover the fact that they are lesbians - let's not forget this was the late 1800's! Eventually Nancy will move onto another relationship, ( one that is both abusive and destructive, ) and which sees Nancy used as a cross dressing sex slave ) but not before she spends a spell as a prostitute ( albeit dressed as a male ) and performing sexual acts for other males. I know I seem to have mentioned sex a lot, and some of these scenes are quite explicit, but they are rightly included as they play an important part in the storyline, however for some of the characters, relationships were secondary to the sex within said relationship, so it was difficult for me to have much empathy with them.

Whoa, what a crazy mixed up life Nancy and her friends lead, but the author makes this an irresistible read, and even though they're a narcissistic bunch, they make for truly interesting subjects. All in all a very enjoyable romp that brings Victorian England ( with its staid and stuffy views ) very much to life.

* Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for my ARC. I have given an honest review in exchange*

Great read, racy and full of saucy moments . An eye opener for the less experienced. Her writing never disappoints .

This was my introduction to Sarah Waters, but it won't be the last for sure. There was a big debate which book should I read first, and when I saw this title on NetGalley, decision was taken :)

Tipping the Velvet follows a young lady named Nan through several years. She's at a life stage of finding her sexuality. It's definitely character driven, and I think how much you like this book would depend on if you like or care for Nan somehow. We follow her life stages and happenings she goes through as well as her inner views about herself. It's mostly about who she chooses to love. The sexual moments are the parts when we witness her self-discovery.

The writing was definitely beautiful, atmospheric, very visual. I loved the characters and especially Nan. She's very much into detail in a way it provokes your imagination. There are no gaps in the story, no fill in the blanks, which I like a lot.

All in all, I really enjoyed the story of Nan King. If you're looking for a story about an unconventional character and her inner journey, this is the book for you.

Thanks a lot to Netgalley and the publisher for granting a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.