This week I finished Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. This book is a Victorian-inspired crime fiction novel, according to Wikipedia. I was not crazy about this book. Now, this is partly my fault because I heard it was good, from someone somewhere, and never further investigated the book. I picked it up from the library and committed to reading it. And then I just kind of kept reading it, even though it wasn't great. If I'd have know that it was Victorian, I would have put it down. If I'd have known it was crime-fiction, I would not have picked it up ever. If I'd have known there was going to be a random lesbian-lovers sub-plot, well, let's just say I did not see that one coming at all.
The story begins in a run-down house of a seedy London neighborhood. The main character, Sue Trinder, is an orphan raised in a den of thieves. She is dragged into a plot to help a man called "Gentleman" (and who is anything but) swindle a wealthy heiress. They are to make the heiress fall in love with Gentleman, marry him, and then they will put her in an insane asylum and make off with her money. Well, the plot gets complicated, and complicated further, and this is not what ends up happening. There's a huge plot twist in the middle of the book that I won't ruin because it's pretty integral to the story. From there, the book could have been shortened by 50-100 pages because man after that it just drags on and on. I found myself flipping through pages and pages of dialogue and description that just did not move the plot forward at all. I mean, the book is 416 pages. Sheesh.
Anyway, I recommend this story if you're into Victorian crime fiction with a lesbian sub-plot. If that's not your bag, skip it. If I hadn't committed myself to this whole "book a week for a year" thing, I probably would not have finished it. Sorry, Sarah Waters.
