Sarah Ann Waters is a Welsh novelist. She is best known for her novels set in Victorian society and featuring lesbian protagonists, such as Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith.
Waters at a book signing in 2006
Tipping the Velvet is a 1998 debut novel by Welsh novelist Sarah Waters. A historical novel set in England during the 1890s, it tells a coming-of-age story about a young woman named Nan who falls in love with a male impersonator, follows her to London, and finds various ways to support herself as she journeys through the city. The picaresque plot elements have prompted scholars and reviewers to compare it to similar British urban adventure stories written by Charles Dickens and Daniel Defoe.
First edition cover
Waters at a book signing in 2006
Waters responded to the many comparisons of her books to Charles Dickens' by saying "I'm not like Dickens... To write these faux Victorian novels is quite different."
Vesta Tilley, here in costume, was one of the most popular male impersonators of her time.