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Affinity
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Affinity Paperback - 2002

by Sarah Waters

A pulse-quickening read by the author of "Tipping the Velvet, Affinity" is a sophisticated and spine-tingling historical mystery awash with the sights, scenes, and smells of 19th-century London. This spellbinding ghost story has left British reviewers "transfixed with horror and excitement" ("Daily Mail, " London).


Summary

“Gothic tale, psychological study, puzzle narrative…This is gripping, astute fiction that feeds the mind and senses.”—The Seattle Times

An upper-class woman recovering from a suicide attempt, Margaret Prior 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 common thieves, Margaret finds herself increasingly fascinated by on apparently innocent inmate, the enigmatic spiritualist Selina Dawes. Selina was imprisoned after a séance she was conducting went horribly awry, leaving an elderly matron dead and a young woman deeply disturbed. Although initially skeptical of Selina’s gifts, Margaret is soon drawn into a twilight world of ghosts and shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions, until she is at last driven to concoct a desperate plot to secure Selina’s freedom, and her own.

As in her noteworthy deput, Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters brilliantly evokes the sights and smells of a moody and beguiling nineteenth-century London, and proves herself yet again a storyteller, in the words of the New York Times Book Review, of "startling power."

From the publisher

Sarah Waters is the author of Tipping the Velvet, a New York Times Notable Book; Affinity, which won her the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award; Fingersmith and The Night Watch, both of which were shortlisted for both the Orange Prize and the Man Booker Prize; and The Little Stranger, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and a New York Times Notable Book. She has also been named one of Granta's best young British novelists. She lives in London.  

First line

Pa used to say that any piece of history might be made into a tale: it was only a question of deciding where the tale began, and where it ended.

Details

  • Title Affinity
  • Author Sarah Waters
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition [ Edition: first
  • Pages 368
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Riverhead Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
  • Date 2002-01-08
  • ISBN 9781573228732 / 1573228737
  • Weight 0.65 lbs (0.29 kg)
  • Dimensions 8 x 5.18 x 0.91 in (20.32 x 13.16 x 2.31 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 19th Century
    • Cultural Region: British
  • Library of Congress subjects Historical fiction, London (England)
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 99087554
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Media reviews

“Unfolds sinuously and ominously…a powerful plot-twister…a truly suspenseful tale of terror; and a piece of elegant, thinly veiled erotica. Like a Ouija board, Affinity offers different messages to different readers, scaring the shrouds off everyone in the process.”
USA Today

“[Waters] displays her incredible talent for the Gothic historical novel in this splendid book about a Victorian women’s prison and the affair there between an inmate and a ‘lady visitor.’”
San Francisco Chronicle

“Gothic tale, psychological study, puzzle narrative…superbly suspenseful…This is gripping, astute fiction that feeds the mind and senses.”
The Seattle Times

Citations

  • New York Times, 04/21/2002, Page 28

About the author

Sarah Waters is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Paying Guests, The Little Stranger, The Night Watch, Fingersmith, Affinity, and Tipping the Velvet. She has three times been short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, has twice been a finalist for the Orange Prize, and was named one of Granta's best young British novelists, among other distinctions. Waters lives in London.
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Affinity
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Affinity

by Sarah Waters

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[ Edition: first ]. Good Condition. [ No Hassle 30 Day Returns ][ Ships Daily ] [ Underlining/Highlighting: NONE ] [ Writing: NONE ] Publisher: Riverhead Trade Pub Date: 1/8/2002 Binding: Paperback Pages: 368
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by Waters, Sarah

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by Waters, Sarah

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by Waters, Sarah

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