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2 Burnside Literature- A to Z

Affinity: A Novel

by Sarah Waters

Affinity: A Novel Cover

ISBN13: 9781573228732
ISBN10: 1573228737
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

Only 2 left in stock at $10.50!

Awards

London Times Novelist of the Year
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize: Finalist

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

A spellbinding ghost story, a complex and intriguing historical mystery, and a poignant romance with an enexpected twist.

An upper-class woman recovering from a suicide attempt, Margaret Prior has begun visiting the women's ward of Millbank prison, Victorian London's grimmest jail, as part of her rehabilitative charity work. Amongst Millbank's murderers and common thieves, Margaret finds herself increasingly fascinated by on apparently innocent inmate, the enigmatic spiritualist Selina Dawes. Selina was imprisoned after a séance she was conducting went horribly awry, leaving an elderly matron dead and a young woman deeply disturbed. Although initially skeptical of Selina's gifts, Margaret is soon drawn into a twilight world of ghosts and shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions, until she is at last driven to concoct a desperate plot to secure Selina's freedom, and her own.

As in her noteworthy deput, Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters brilliantly evokes the sights and smells of a moody and beguiling nineteenth-century London, and proves herself yet again a storyteller, in the words of the New York Times Book Review, of "startling power." A tale that will leave readers "transfixed with horror and excitement" (Daily Mail, London), Affinity, in its accomplishment and sophistication, leaves no doubt as to this writer's considerable gifts.

Review:

"Her first, Tipping the Velvet, was good; her second is just terrific....Affinity is two parts Wilkie Collins...and just a dash of Jeanette Winterson for up-to-the-minute lesbian-historical-fiction flavor." New York Magazine

Review:

"There are two kinds of mystery novels. The first gives us the crime and the clues....In the other, the crime is solved but not the mystery, which arises from a dark corner of the human condition....Affinity is both of these — and also a wrenching love story." Nancy Willard, New York Times Book Review

Review:

"Readers must seek the answers in Affinity, which turns into a powerful plot-twister. The book is multidimensional: a naturalistic look at Victorian society; a truly suspenseful tale of terror; and a piece of elegant, thinly veiled erotica." USA Today

Review:

"Waters has perfect pitch in her representations of bourgeois Victorian life, the puritanical misery of prisons in the 1870's, and the spiritualist subculture...she has created a compelling character in a deeply absorbing book." Nancy Chinn, The Advocate

Review:

"Waters has concocted a delicious mix of mysticism and dark romance set in Victorian England." Booklist

Review:

"A darkly homoerotic tale of specters and spinsters, frustrated ambition, and (yes!) mannish wardens." Out Magazine

Synopsis:

A pulse-quickening read by the author of "Tipping the Velvet, Affinity" is a sophisticated and spine-tingling historical mystery awash with the sights, scenes, and smells of 19th-century London. This spellbinding ghost story has left British reviewers "transfixed with horror and excitement" ("Daily Mail, " London).

About the Author

Sarah Waters is the author of Tipping the Velvet.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
crowyhead, October 31, 2007 (view all comments by crowyhead)
Don't go into this expecting it to be just like Tipping the Velvet -- the tone is quite different, and while it is set in Victorian England, the social class of the characters and the bulk of the settings are quite different. I really enjoyed this; Waters ratchets up the tension wonderfully, and I was utterly fascinated by the elements of spiritualism, as well as the women's prison setting. Highly recommended.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781573228732
Author:
Waters, Sarah
Publisher:
Riverhead Books
Location:
New York
Subject:
Historical
Subject:
Historical - General
Subject:
London (england)
Subject:
London
Subject:
Suspense
Subject:
Women prisoners
Subject:
Thrillers
Subject:
Historical fiction
Copyright:
Edition Description:
1st Riverhead trade pbk. ed.
Publication Date:
January 2002
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
351
Dimensions:
8.00x5.18x.91 in. .65 lbs.

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