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Ah, se tutti gli esordi fossero così! Carezze di velluto è stata una lettura molto piacevole, con una protagonista che seguiamo nella crescita e nella sua scoperta di se stessa e di un mondo nel quale non è facile vivere per una ragazza da sola e lesbica.

Ci sono tante piccole cose che ho apprezzato di questa lettura. Per esempio, il rapporto di Nancy con la sua sessualità: impara nella maniera peggiore a stare attenta, ma non si pente mai dei suoi desideri, nemmeno quando questi vengono giudicati immorali per un verso o per un altro. Nel corso della sua crescita, non rinnegherà mai di essersi abbandonata alle gioie del sesso, né di averle sfruttate per tirare avanti.

Altro elemento interessante a proposito di quest’ultimo punto è il fatto che Nancy non sfrutta il sesso nel modo in cui siamo abituatu a leggere nei romanzi – ed è uno dei motivi per i quali la rappresentazione LGBTQIA porta ventate di aria fresca nelle storie, perché aggiunge varianti interessanti e punti di vista poco praticati.

Infine, mi è piaciuto tanto vedere la differenza tra il lesbismo nella nobiltà e nella classe operaia. Dalle storie raccontate, si ha l’impressione che la possibilità di vivere più liberamente la propria sessualità fosse un capriccio da persone ricche, ma non è proprio così. Pur nella realtà romanzata di Carezze di velluto, vediamo come la libertà sessuale fosse più autentica nelle classi più povere che in quelle più ricche, molto più soggette a ipocrisie e falsità.

In definitiva sono molto contenta di aver conosciuto quest’autrice e sicuramente leggerò altro di suo. ( )

I would recommend this book to anyone but I loathe 19th century settings. This book is amazing but honestly just not what I'm into. If you want cutesy lesbians who dress as boys and do sex work and are multifaceted and fall in love etc. it for you.

I wish I could give this book zero stars. I loathed it, which is disappointing because it’s been on my list for such a long time. The reviews are mostly praising, so why did I hate it? The author uses 300 words when ten would suffice. I was halfway through before I realized I was still waiting for it to start. Not one of the characters was the least bit likable. The subject matter appealed to me, but MY GAWD, the execution was terrible. I suspect its good reviews are similar to how “CATS” became the most popular musical ever: people were embarrassed at how much $$/time they spent on tickets/reading that they feel they HAVE to rave about it. I’ve seen the litter box that is “CATS,” and now I’ve read a book with a fascinating topic, told in the worst possible way. I have zero raves for either. ( )

"Being in love, you know......it's not like having a canary, in a cage. When you lose one sweetheart, you can't just go out and get another to replace her."

'Tipping the Velvet' is a coming of age novel that follows the life of Nancy Astley, a young oyster girl living in Whitstable with her family who enjoys trips to the local music hall. When one night Nancy sees Kitty Butler, a male impersonator, perform, she falls hard for her. So when Kitty invites Nancy to join her in London as her personal dresser, Nancy quickly accepts. For a while, the two live an idyllic life but when Kitty betrays her, Nancy descends into the seedy underworld of London lesbians and the budding Socialist movement. It’s a journey that ultimately brings Nancy out of other people’s shadows and into her own spotlight.

There is a lot of sex in this novel. Nancy is a very sexual woman and her time with Diana, a woman who has hired her as a sort of in-house prostitute, is particularly explicit but Waters succeeds in never making it feel too gratuitous.

There are echoes of Charles Dickens about this novel and like him Waters brings Victorian London to life, as both a boy and a woman. We visit the heights of elegance and the depths of poverty but more impressively Waters explores differing aspects of Victorian womanhood; the rich but abusive Diana, the socialist Florence to the various women that Nancy encounters along the way. In fact there are only three male characters who have any real bearing on the story.

Waters also explores the spectrum of female homosexuality. Kitty is a fiercely closeted woman who marries a man just to prove that she’s not some “tom”, a Victorian slur for a lesbian. Alice, Nancy's sister, is disgusted that Nancy is in love another woman and disowns her, Diana and her circle of friends seem to view their homosexuality as a sort of refined choice, rather than a state of being. When Nancy finally finds true love, it’s with Florence, a woman who is comfortable with her identity as a lesbian.

Yes, it's very sexual and I must admit that there were a few occasions when I would have liked to have seen it toned down a little, but Nancy is a likeable character and the story, as it explores what it means to be a woman, especially a gay woman, during the Victorian age, is very well written. As a first novel it's quite a feat. ( )

La joven Nancy Astley vendía ostras en una pequeña ciudad portuaria en la costa de Kent hasta que un día llegó una compañía de variedades donde cantaba un joven encantador, Nancy se dejó seducir por su voz y por su gracia, y descubrió que en realidad era también una jovencita, como ella. La siguió a Londres como su asistenta, como su amante y como su compañera de actuación. Pero esto no fue más que el primer paso de una larga y muy peculiar educación sentimental. Porque en la Inglaterra victoriana, la transgresión, los «vicios» más secretos, surgían a cada paso que Nancy daba.