One thing I find memorable in books is descriptions of food. The novel starts in Whitstable in Victorian Kent which is excellently recreated. For me, “The Little Stranger” (2009), a gentle ghost story set in the 1940’s was a little too subdued and doesn’t rank amongst her best. Both “The Nightwatch”(2006), set in the second world war and her tale of Victorian spiritualists “Affinity”(2009) are very strong novels. I have now read all of her novels apart from her latest “The Paying Guest” (2014). I do love Sarah Waters and got into her work with her wonderfully Dickensian “Fingersmith” (2002) which is also an essential read and may very well feature in this blog in the future. Stirling (who comes across like a young Diana Rigg) is excellent in the main role.īut it is the book that is an essential. I have now seen it and it’s a good interpretation of the Waters novel.
I know that I put off watching it because I wanted to read the book first. It starred Keely Hawes and Rachael Stirling and it is available on DVD. There was no need to do so with this as it was “sexed-up” already. It was a faithful adaptation with screenwriting by Andrew Davies, a writer who had been accused of “sexing” things up in the past. I would have thought that this would have put it on the top of my viewing list but I didn’t watch it. The Daily Mail, in particular, thought all those who watched it would suffer from incurable moral decline. When a television series was made of the novel in 2002 the tabloids had a field day. (Although like many of the best titles it can be interpreted in different ways). If you don’t then read the book as I have come over surprisingly coy today!. I knew about it and thought I knew what the phrase “Tipping the Velvet” referred to. For some reason this debut novel passed me by when it was published.
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