Fingersmith
Apr. 10th, 2021 09:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearWhen I first read Fingersmith by Sarah Waters in 2006, I didn't really like it. I generally need characters I can invest in - and there really is not one person in this whole book who is remotely blameless or really likeable.
It's about a lot of variably reprehensible people, mistreating, misleading and swindling each other, in pursuit of a fortune. But Sue and Maud find more than they bargained for when they meet as part of a plot to secure the money.
This time around, I got very involved very early on, as the writing is so good and the story is so compelling (and I remembered very little of it from 15 years ago). It dragged a touch in the second half, with the repetition of part of the story from a different viewpoint and then a lengthy section where the two viewpoint characters were entirely powerless and miserable about it for rather too long.
But, it picked up again towards the conclusion. And, by the end, I found I did want them to have a better future after all. I won't say if they get one or not. It's a complex story with layered characters and a very immersive narrative. It seems to be the only Sarah Waters I've read to date, so I shall have to try another one.
It's about a lot of variably reprehensible people, mistreating, misleading and swindling each other, in pursuit of a fortune. But Sue and Maud find more than they bargained for when they meet as part of a plot to secure the money.
This time around, I got very involved very early on, as the writing is so good and the story is so compelling (and I remembered very little of it from 15 years ago). It dragged a touch in the second half, with the repetition of part of the story from a different viewpoint and then a lengthy section where the two viewpoint characters were entirely powerless and miserable about it for rather too long.
But, it picked up again towards the conclusion. And, by the end, I found I did want them to have a better future after all. I won't say if they get one or not. It's a complex story with layered characters and a very immersive narrative. It seems to be the only Sarah Waters I've read to date, so I shall have to try another one.
