From the oyster huts of Whitstable to the music halls of Victorian London, Tipping the Velvet is the glorious first novel from this much-loved author
'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'.
'Erotic and absorbing... Written with startling power' New York Times Book Review
'An unstoppable read, a sexy and picaresque romp through the lesbian and queer demi-monde of the roaries Nineties' Independent on Sunday
'Waters is an extremely confident writer, combining precise, sensuous descriptions with irony and wit' Observer
Read MoreIntelligent, witty and stylish, the novel re-imagines a lost lesbian history through vivid sensual detail, evocative period slang (the title is a sexual euphemism) and a satisfyingly complex plot - IndependentWaters is an extremely confident writer, combining precise, sensuous descriptions with irony and wit. This is a lively, gutsy, highly readable debut - ObserverAn 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 SundayThis could be the most important debut of its kind since that of Jeanette Winterson - Daily TelegraphErotic and absorbing... Written with startling power - New York Times Book ReviewDelectable... written in roguishly lilting prose filled with the sights, sounds and stenches of London street life - Seattle Times