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Amazon.co.uk Review
In late September 1874, Margaret Prior makes her way through the pentagons of London's Millbank Prison, a place of fearful symmetry and endless corridors. This plain woman on the verge of 30 has come to comfort those behind bars, several of whom Waters brings to instant, sad life. And our lady visitor plans to take her role seriously, having recovered from two years of nervous indolence in her family's Chelsea house. One person, however, makes her job a passion. Opening an inspection slit (or "eye" as these devices are known), Margaret hears "a perfect sigh, like a sigh in a story". Peering inward, she's confronted by the most erotic of visions--a woman turned towards the sun, caressing her cheek with a forbidden violet: "As I watched her, she put the flower to her lips, and breathed upon it, and the purple of the petals gave a quiver and seemed to glow..."
The medium Selina Dawes may indeed have the face of a Crivelli angel, but she is in prison for fraud and assault. Suffice to say that the first full encounter between these two very different women is enthralling. "You think spiritualism a kind of fancy," Selina riddles. "Doesn't it seem to you, now that you are here, that anything might be real, since Millbank is?" And soon enough Margaret receives several viable signs of the supernatural: a locket disappears from her room, flowers mysteriously appear and her dazzling friend knows everything about her. Strangest of all, Selina seems to love her.
As Margaret records her weekly forays, her own past comes into focus, notably her plans to travel to Italy with her first love (who is now her sister-in-law). But her current journal, she convinces herself, is to be very different from her last one, which "took as long to burn as human hearts, they say, do take". Meanwhile, Waters offers a narrative two-for-one, placing Margaret's diary cheek by jowl with Selina's chronicle of her pre-Millbank existence. This dispassionate, staccato record initially suggests that we can separate truth from desire. Or can we? What Waters' haunting creation leaves us with is a more painful reality--that knowledge and belief are entirely different things. --Kerry Fried, Amazon.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Affinity pulls you in however hard you try,
By A Customer
This review is from: Affinity (Paperback)
Having read "Tipping the Velvet" I was expecting a lot of colour, frivolity and fun from "Affinity". Even though I'd read it was set in a prison I awaited a Victorian "Bad Girls". However it was far from any of these - it was dark, it was psychological and so different from the previous novel. Subtle and discreet the reader is slowly drawn into Affinity and the world of Millbank, just as Margaret is drawn to Selina and however hard you try to resist this pull - you end up not just "wanting" to believe in the "magic" but like Miss Prior "NEEDING TO". I recommend this novel even though a lot of people prefer "Tipping the Velvet" I loved the repression and wanting in "Affinity" - Sara Waters explores that human need to believe in someone or something and she does this superbly!
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hmmmm....,
This review is from: Affinity (Paperback)
I bought this book after having finished 'Fingersmith', which I rate inside my top 25 book; I found Water's writing extremely gripping and reminiscent of old Victorian novels. I expected something equally exciting when I began to read 'Affinity'.How wrong I was....at the beginning. At first, I found the book quite tedious, as it moved at a rather slow pace, with too many descriptions of the prison and Margaret's house in Cheyne Walk. After the first 150 pages, however it began to draw me in, with the exciting occurences. The descriptions did not come as often and I did not feel tired or compelled to shut the book to start a new one. The characters became more enticing; instead of skimming blankly over passages illustrating their feelings read them closely and felt for said characters. I was drawn into the story and the plot, that I almost believed everything (well, maybe not everything)said.Indeed the end was extremely surprising and shocking. After the first half, a very enticing and well written book. Expect great things from Ms Waters - even better than 'Fingersmith' - in the future.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Storytelling at its best.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Affinity (Virago V) (Paperback)
I brought "Affinity" after reading "Tipping the Velvet" (also an astounding read). The book describes a two year time frame of events--one that occurs in the present and the other describing the events that led to the present. It is set in the late 1800's, in London, England. Sarah Water's takes you on a fascinating journey of intrigue, devotion, deception, passion, etc., etc.--it's all here. It is written in a marvelously descriptive text that lures you in in such a manner that you simply cannot put the book down. Water's slowly drops hints along the way, and never allows the reader to guess at any outcome of events. I was slightly disappointed by (what seemed like) the sudden ending of the book. But only disappointed because I was so utterly convinced of the inevitable outcome (I felt as bewildered as Miss Prior). I have not been surprised by a plot/book/author for a very long time. I highly recommend "Tipping the Velvet" and "Affinity." I assure you, in reading these books, you will be in skilled hands.
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