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The Orange Prize short-listed, Booker Prize short-listed, critically adored, third novel from Sarah Waters - reissued in hardcover with a stunning new jacket.
London 1862. Sue Trinder, orphaned at birth, grows up among petty thieves - fingersmiths - under the rough but loving care of Mrs Sucksby and her 'family'. But from the moment she draws breath, Sue's fate is linked to that of another orphan growing up in a gloomy mansion not too many miles away.
Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a 'baby farmer', who raised her as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby's household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves - fingersmiths. One day an elegant con man arrives with an enticing proposition for Sue. If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naive gentlewoman, and aids him in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud's vast inheritance. With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud in unexpected ways.
Author: Sarah Waters
Hardcover Published February 2023 547 pages
Intensely atmospheric, impeccably paced, and cunningly structured, this is that rarity in contemporary fiction: a deeply serious novel that is also a thumping great read -- Douglas Kennedy ― Mail on Sunday
There are always novels that you envy people for not having read yet, for the pleasure they still have to come. Well, this is one. Long, dark, twisted and satisfying, it's a fabulous piece of writing... An unforgettable experience -- Julie Myerson ― Guardian
One of the best twists of any book, one that lifts the novel from a brilliant piece of modern Victoriana to something altogether more original and daring... Fingersmith, like so many great books, calls into question our desire to fit novels into restrictive boxes... If you like a great story, brilliantly told, you'll love this book -- Laura Shepherd-Robinson ― The Times