Tipping the Velvet

[alobear]

I loved the TV show of Tipping the Velvet when I first saw it in the early 2000s, and have watched it several times since, as well as seeing an excellent stage version quite some years ago. So, when I spotted the book in a charity shop recently, I snatched it up eagerly. And it's very well written and engaging. The problem was, the TV show is such a good adaptation, it was almost a bit boring reading the book because I knew almost every detail of what was going to happen. It was all a lot more intense in text - though I liked Nancy less as a protagonist after spending nearly 500 pages in her head. And Kitty was much less of a real character because we only got to see her through Nancy's eyes and unhealthy obsession. And it did all seem a lot more unhealthy than I remember from the TV show somehow - and I wasn't sure until right before the end whether I would feel Nancy had redeemed herself and deserved a good outcome. But it totally got me by the end, and - life-changing TV show aside - it's a very good book.