"Fingersmith," Sarah Waters

I read over "Fingersmith" over two nights, and it took two nights only because the necessity of sleep intervened. It's hard for me to describe the plot of the novel, because it would take a lot of "and then... and then!" sort of description and also because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't picked it up yet. I'm shallow, so I admit that I started the book with the thought "ooh, Victorian lesbian erotica!" in mind, but Waters is really playing with the tropes of 19th-century sensation fiction here. (How could she top the ending of "Woman in White," anyway? Ménage à trois with two sisters...) There's a madhouse, an evil uncle, kidnapping, orphans, a criminal trial, and everything in between.

I found the first section the strongest - I'm a sucker for Victorian street urchins, what can I say? Since the section told from Maud's point of view is a retelling of what we've already seen through Sue's eyes, I found it a bit slow going, and I have to say that if I see one more book where the protagonist is redeemed by the act of writing I'll cry. All right, that's a bit far, but is it really necessary to justify the act of writing in the text itself? (I'm being unfair to Waters, who really doesn't go as far with this concept as many other authors I've read.)

Bonus: much of the action takes place in my neighborhood; Sue's haunt is close to the tube station I take almost every day.