Tipping the Velvet
Her first novel and a strong introduction to her historical and queer fiction.
Author guide
Sarah Waters Books in Order
Sarah Waters is a Welsh novelist and playwright whose fiction often explores lesbian histories, identity, desire, secrecy, and social change. She is the author of six novels, several of which have been adapted for stage, television, and film, and co-wrote the immersive play The Frozen Scream. Before becoming a novelist, she completed doctoral research on lesbian and gay historical fiction.
historical fictiongothic fictionliterary fictionlesbian fictionqueer fictiondramaliterary criticism
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Novels (6)
- Tipping the Velvet
novel · 1998
Nan King, an oyster girl, is captivated by the music hall phenomenon Kitty Butler, a male impersonator extraordinaire treading the boards in Canterbury. Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally…
- Affinity
novel · 1999
Margaret Prior, an upper-class woman recovering from a suicide attempt, 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…
- Fingersmith
novel · 2002
The Handmaiden, a film adaptation of Fingersmith, directed by Park Chan-wook and starring Kim Tae-Ri, is now available. Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual…
- The Night Watch
novel · 2006
I thought everything would change, after the war. And now, no one even mentions it. It is as if we all got together in private and said whatever you do don't mention that, like it never happened. It's the late 1940s. Calm has returned to…
- The Little Stranger
novel · 2009
One postwar summer in his home of rural Warwickshire, Dr. Faraday, the son of a maid who has built a life of quiet respectability as a country physician, is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over…
- The Paying Guests
novel · 2014
It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned, the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa, a large silent house now bereft of brothers, husband and even…
Plays (1)
- The Frozen Scream
play · 2014
Other (1)
Frequently asked questions about Sarah Waters
Where is Sarah Waters from, and what is she known for?
Sarah Waters is a Welsh novelist born in Wales in 1966. She is known for historical fiction combining Gothic atmosphere with queer and lesbian themes.
Sources: sarahwaters.com (opens in a new tab)thebookerprizes.com (opens in a new tab)
Is Sarah Waters a lesbian author?
Yes. Waters has publicly discussed herself and her work in terms of lesbian identity, and her fiction frequently centers lesbian characters and histories.
What did Sarah Waters study before becoming a novelist?
She studied English and American Literature at the University of Kent, earned an MA at Lancaster University, and completed a PhD at Queen Mary, University of London, on lesbian and gay historical writing.
Sources: kent.ac.uk (opens in a new tab)theguardian.com (opens in a new tab)
What awards and honors has Sarah Waters received?
Her honors include the Betty Trask Award, Somerset Maugham Award, and CWA Historical Dagger. She has also been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times and was awarded an OBE in 2019.
Sources: sarahwaters.com (opens in a new tab)thebookerprizes.com (opens in a new tab)
What influences shaped Sarah Waters’ writing?
Waters has identified lesbian and gay fiction and historical novels as her two main starting points. She has cited Jeanette Winterson and Alan Hollinghurst for LGBT inspiration, along with Graham Swift, A. S. Byatt, Peter Ackroyd, and Peter Carey for their imaginative reinvention of the past.