Publisher Description

Set in and around the women's prison at Milbank in the 1870's , AFFINITY is an eerie and utterly compelling ghost story, a complex and intriguing literary mystery and a poignant love story with an unexpected twist in the tale. Following the death of her father, Margaret Prior has decided to pursue some 'good work' with the lady criminals of one of London's most notorious gaols. Surrounded by prisoners, murderers and common thieves, Margaret feels herself drawn to one of the prisons more unlikely inmates - the imprisoned spiritualist - Selina Dawes. Sympathetic to the plight of this innocent-seeming girl, Margaret sees herself dispensing guidance and perhaps friendship on her visits, little expecting to find herself dabbling in a twilight world of seances, shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions.

Notes

From the Betty Trask Award-winning author of Tipping The Velvet comes this "sexy, spooky, stylish" (Guardian) tale set in and around the women's prison at Milbank in the 1870s. While doing "good work" at the prison, Margaret Prior becomes drawn to one of the inmates, spiritualist Selina Dawes. But she becomes increasingly involved in a world of seances, spirits and passion. "A work of intense and atmospheric imagination..." Daily Telegraph.

Back Cover

From the award-winning author of Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith , shortlisted for both the Orange and the Man Booker prize. 'Now you know why you are drawn to me - why your flesh comes creeping to mine, and what it comes for. Let it creep.' From the dark heart of a Victorian prison, disgraced spiritualist Selina Dawes weaves an enigmatic spell. Is she a fraud, or a prodigy? By the time it all begins to matter, you'll find yourself desperately wanting to believe in magic. 'Spooky, spellbinding, exquisitely written . . . I do believe Waters is on the way to becoming a major literary star' Val Hennessy 'Indeed, this is such a brilliant writer that her readers would believe anything she told them' A. N. Wilson, Daily Mail 'Refined, repressed and simmering . . . a delicious tale of Victorian spiritualism' Mel Steel, Independent on Sunday

Flap

From the award-winning author of Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith , shortlisted for both the Orange and the Man Booker prize. 'Now you know why you are drawn to me - why your flesh comes creeping to mine, and what it comes for. Let it creep.' From the dark heart of a Victorian prison, disgraced spiritualist Selina Dawes weaves an enigmatic spell. Is she a fraud, or a prodigy? By the time it all begins to matter, you'll find yourself desperately wanting to believe in magic. 'Spooky, spellbinding, exquisitely written . . . I do believe Waters is on the way to becoming a major literary star' Val Hennessy 'Indeed, this is such a brilliant writer that her readers would believe anything she told them' A. N. Wilson, Daily Mail 'Refined, repressed and simmering . . . a delicious tale of Victorian spiritualism' Mel Steel, Independent on Sunday

Author Biography

Sarah Waters was born in Wales in 1966. She has a PhD in English Literature and has taught at the Open University.

Review

Refined, repressed and simmering... a delicious tale of Victorian spiritualism -- Mel Steel * Independent on Sunday *
Spooky, spellbinding, exquisitely written... I do believe Waters is on the way to becoming a major literary star * Val Hennessy *
Beautifully, atmospherically written, this is a tale to thrill your very soul * Metro *
An exquisitely sad, pseudo-ghost story... it is a novel that takes countless risks -- Matt Thorne * Independent on Sunday *
Affinity is the work of an intense and atmospheric imagination... Sarah Waters is such an interesting writer, a kind of feminist Dickens -- Fiona Pitt-Kethley * Daily Telegraph *
Sarah Waters is such a brilliant writer that her readers would believe anything she told them -- A.N. Wilson * Daily Mail *
Extraordinary... written in a subtly caricatured period style... So well researched is this novel that both diaries seem grotesquely authentic * The Times *
Sexy, spooky, stylish, Affinity is a wonderful book * Guardian *
Waters displays her incredible talent for the Gothic historical novel in this splendid book about a Victorian women's prison and the affair there between an inmate and a lady visitor * San Francisco Chronicle *
Gothic tale, psychological study, puzzle narrative... superbly suspenseful... This is gripping, astute fiction that feeds the mind and senses * Seattle Times *
Unfolds sinuously and ominously... a powerful plot-twister... a truly suspenseful tale of terror; and a piece of elegant, thinly veiled erotica. Like a Ouija board, Affinity offers different messages to different readers, scaring the shrouds off everyone in the process * USA Today *
A richly detailed exploration of the mysterious affinity that appears to unite two lonely women... Waters has found a superb metaphor for the love that dares not speak its name, and developed it with remarkable ingenuity and power: another stunning performance * Kirkus *

Promotional

Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2000

Kirkus UK Review

This is the second novel by Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Sarah Waters. Set in Victorian London, it tells the sad and dark tale of Margaret Prior as she becomes ensnared by the spiritualist Selina Dawes. The pair meet when, in an attempt to shake off the grief of her father's death and to escape the shackles of bourgeois society, Margaret decides to become a Lady Visitor at Millbank prison. She is immediately drawn to the cell of Selina, who, over the course of her visits, winds her in like a fish on a hook, with a heady mix of spiritualism and eroticism. Tokens such as a spray of orange blossom and a tress of Selina's hair begin to arrive in Margaret's bedroom, convincing her that she is indeed Selina's 'affinity' and that by allowing her to take over her body, and thereby escape, they can begin a new life together on the Continent. This is a beautifully written novel, with its evocative descriptions of smog-bound London and the Thames as it seeps into the creaking Kafkaesque edifice of Millbank. These passages are counter-balanced by Margaret's beautifully stilted prose as she recounts the misery of her stifling and repressed life as a Victorian spinster. Such is the bewitching quality of Waters's writing that we, like Margaret, are taken in and it comes as a rude shock to learn that Selinas scheme is nothing more than an elaborate hoax to facilitate her own escape. Underlying this haunting tale is an interesting social commentary on the status of women in Victorian society and a sensitive study of female sexuality. We are constantly made aware of the inferior position occupied by women of the time, and throughout there are veiled references to Margaret's lesbian tendencies as she tries to stifle memories of a previous relationship with her sister-in-law while at the same time succumbing to Selina's seductive charms. This is a finely crafted and absorbing novel which has the reader spellbound from the start by its eerie sensuality. (Kirkus UK)

Kirkus US Review

This ambitious second novel, a richly detailed exploration of the mysterious affinity that appears to unite two lonely women, boldly extends the range of the British writer (Tipping the Velvet, 1999). The dominant world is London's Millbank Women's Prison, to which highborn Margaret Prior comes in 1874, as a Lady Visitor offering solace and companionship to Millbank's wretched inhabitants. This is intended as therapy, for Margaret has recently attempted suicidean act presumed to stem from the recent death of her father (a respected Renaissance scholar), but is in fact connected to a disappointment in love. At Millbank, Margaret is drawn to the vibrant figure of Selina Dawes, a spirit medium blamed for the death of a client during a sance. The developing closeness between the two women intensified by evidence that Selina is telepathically sending tokens of her affection to Margaret's homeis juxtaposed with flashback scenes that gradually disclose the truth about Selina's supposed powers (especially as embodied in the visitant she claims is her collaborator, seductive Peter Quickin a knowing nod to Henry James's The Turn of the Screw). Waters has researched her mood-drenched Victorian gothic quite impressively (down to such convincing minutiae as this injunction to search all prison visitors: Infants may be taught to pass on blades, in their very kisses). And the long denouement, in which Margaret, having risked everything, awaits the fulfillment of Selina's promise that stone walls do not a prison make (You need only want me, and I will come), grates exquisitely on the reader's nerves, right up to its brilliant climax in the revelatory image of a mud-brown gown . . . and a maids black frock . . . tangled together, like sleeping lovers. Waters has found a superb metaphor for the love that dares not speak its name, and developed it with remarkable ingenuity and power: another stunning performance by a young writer whose promise seems just about unlimited. (Kirkus Reviews)

Prizes

Winner of Somerset Maugham Awards 2000
Short-listed for Mail on Sunday / John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2000
Short-listed for Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2000

Long Description

Set in and around the women's prison at Milbank in the 1870's , AFFINITY is an eerie and utterly compelling ghost story, a complex and intriguing literary mystery and a poignant love story with an unexpected twist in the tale. Following the death of her father, Margaret Prior has decided to pursue some 'good work' with the lady criminals of one of London's most notorious gaols. Surrounded by prisoners, murderers and common thieves, Margaret feels herself drawn to one of the prisons more unlikely inmates - the imprisoned spiritualist - Selina Dawes. Sympathetic to the plight of this innocent-seeming girl, Margaret sees herself dispensing guidance and perhaps friendship on her visits, little expecting to find herself dabbling in a twilight world of seances, shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions.

Promotional "Headline"

An eerie and utterly compelling novel of mystery and seduction set in a women's prison in Victorian London.

Description for Sales People

Sales of TIPPING THE VELVET now exceed 23,500 copies in B & C formats and continues to sell on.

Details