Tipping the Velvet cover art

Tipping the Velvet

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Tipping the Velvet

By: Sarah Waters
Narrated by: Juanita McMahon
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About this listen

'Piercing the shadows of the naked stage was a single shaft of rosy limelight, and in the centre of this was a girl: the most marvellous girl - I knew it at once! - that I had ever seen.'

A saucy, sensuous and multi-layered historical romance, Tipping the Velvet follows the glittering career of Nan King - oyster girl turned music-hall star turned rent boy turned East End 'tom'.

©1998 Sarah Waters (P)1998 W F Howes Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Heartfelt Thought-Provoking

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Critic reviews

"An unstoppable read, a sexy and picaresque romp through the lesbian and queer demi-monde of the roaring Nineties. Imagine Jeanette Winterson on a good day collaborating with Judith Butler to pen a Sapphic Moll Flanders. It's gorgeous" ( Independent on Sunday)
"She is an extremely confident writer, combining precise, sensuous descriptions with irony and wit. This is a lively, gutsy, highly readable debut" ( Observer)
All stars
Most relevant  
Good narrator who commited to the emotions. Very sharp and interesting story. A delightful read.

My new favourite book

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Where do I begin? This audiobook was utterly thrilling. Don't just take my word for it!

The best audiobook I've ever listened to

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Would you consider the audio edition of Tipping the Velvet to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version

What did you like best about this story?

The story becomes fascinating and is very well told. All the main characters are really well drawn and believable. Their moral dilemmas and choices are ones that ring true. The juxtaposition of a private lesbian life and the late Victorian public life of the city makes for a richness of of narrative and imagery that is constantly engaging. It is sort of like Dickens with a modern touch. However the first few chapters need a bit of persevering with.

Have you listened to any of Juanita McMahon’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I haven't listened to any others.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

For me the story provoked quite a range of feelings and thoughts. That is the main reason I liked it.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend it as being a very good story that is well written and well read.

A slow start but in the end a tremendous read

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There are only a few authors who can wrap up serious literature in the guise of a popular read. Sarah Waters can and she is aided and abetted in the audible version by the splendid Juanita McMahon.
Listen to this - you'll be doing yourself a favour.

Both writer and narrator simply ooze class.

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late to the party in getting around to reading/listening to this, saw the series some years back, and enjoyed that there were enough differences between the book and the screen adaptation to keep me hooked - I really enjoyed the character development, and feeling that by the end it's the people within, and not a particular scene that I find memorable... The narration is very well done - and each character is identifiable.... Will definitely be back for more...

Very (very) much enjoyed...

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Moll Flanders as a Victorian lesbian

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This story is so wonderful - so real and heartfelt. Be wary if you are not broad minded.
The story follows Nancy, a young, inexperienced girl who was brought up by her close and caring family in Kent. We hear about her experiences as a stage performer, a working 'boy', a lady's lover and a friendless girl. Her experiences are gritty, raw and a true reflection of life for a lower-class lesbian in old time Britain.
Juanita McMahon is perfectly cast to read this book with her amazing ability to accurately interpret characters.
I couldn’t put it down and I will certainly be coming back to it in the future

I loved it

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A rollicking story of an imagined life of Nan as she transforms herself from a Whitstable oyster girl to dresser, to music-hall performer to pretend male rent-boy, and on and on through various lesbian encounters as her life goes through drastic ups and downs. A real roller-coaster of a life. I found the descriptions of her sexual exploits surprisingly explicit and more like well-written soft porn. The narrator does a splendid job of bringing the characters to life.

Surprisingly explicit but very entertaining

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I am rather late to the party on this novel, but 'Tipping the Velvet' is without doubt one of the best audio books to which I have ever listened. The story is engrossing right from the start as Whitstable oyster girl, Nancy, begins to tell her tale. All characters and their behaviour (whether laudable or not) are credible, making Nancy's narrative all the more believable and engaging. I enjoyed experiencing the protagonist's search for pleasure, happiness, love and mere survival at different points in the plot, making this one of those rare novels which evokes a whole range of emotions. Nancy's life takes turns for the better and worse and I liked the fact that I couldn't predict its course, but only hope that things turned out well for a character of whom I had quickly become fond - perhaps this would be a tale of sliding down an ever more slippery slope.

In case it's a determining factor in whether or not you wish to read the book, the love/sex scenes are graphic but realistic and not overdone.

As for the narration, Juanita McMahon's performance is exceptional. She narrates male and female characters well, differentiating between different characters clearly. On the strength of this performance, I shall be looking out for other books narrated by her.

Outstanding for both characterisation and performa

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I could read or listen to this book over and over and never tire, every time it's new to me.

All time favourite!

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