Fingersmith

By: Sarah Waters

Narrated by: Juanita McMahon

Length: 23 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author of Affinity, Sarah Waters was named Author of the Year at the 2003 British Book Awards. Fingersmith was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Booker Prize, and was chosen as book of the year 2002 by more organizations than any other novel. Orphaned as an infant, Susan Trinder was raised by Mrs. Sucksby, “mother” to a host of pickpockets and con artists. To pay her debt, she joins legendary thief Gentleman in swindling an innocent woman out of her inheritence. But the two women form an unanticipated bond and the events that follow will surprise every listener.

©2002 Sarah Waters (P)2002 Recorded Books

loved it

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the characters were beautifully written and believable. The multiple twists were unexpected (to me, at least) but also seemed plausible.

hhmm.

wasn't what I expected at the end but still a good story. an unexpected love story

Slow start. confusing middle. predicted ending

I got this book free as part of a promotion. I'm glad I didn't pay for it. It was extremely slow to start and I had to force myself to get through the first chapters. the narrator has a thick accent which is appropriate for the time period and setting.... You have been warned.
it's also from two point of views which doesn't help clarify anything in the middle. I just didn't find any of the reactions of the women credible or believable. Nobody thinks her acts like the people in this book! The characters aren't relatable at all.
I do not recommend.

Worth the read

Interesting storyline, interesting characters. I wouldn’t say this is on my top 10 favorite books ever written, but I ended up enjoying it.

More Than Amazing

This honestly is the best book I’ve ever enjoyed and can’t find the words to describe the brilliance of it. I could listen to again and again

I had my doubts

This isnt my typical genre or time period, I had huge doubts about this book’s ability to deliver a captivating story. I was very wrong.

Too long but awesome story

A lady’s version of Oliver Twist. Extremely entertaining but I longed for it to end. Narrator was very authentic and kept me listening.

Very detailed

Very well written. Lots of details that I usually don’t like. But it made it possible to really feel like you were there. I also like that there was a twist at the end! Thank you Sarah Waters for another great story.

Wonderful narration, ok story.

I picked up this book after finding out the Korean film The Handmaiden was adapted from it. I absolutely loved The Handmaiden and had hoped that the book it was adapted from would be at least as good and possibly even better than the movie. I was disappointed. That’s not to say this book was bad. It simply wasn’t on the same level as the movie and the story was much different than its adaptation into film. I was full of bias and expectation going into this book and, as most of us story loving book worms know, that rarely makes for auspicious beginnings. I gave the story three out of five stars. It’s difficult to say how I would’ve judged it had I read it first and then seen the movie. However, I gave five stars for the narration. The narration was excellent. In fact, I think the narrator did such an excellent job that I will be looking out for her and trying different audio book titles simply because she’s doing the performance. She’s that good. If you haven’t see The Handmaiden yet give this book a read first. It’ll be more enjoyable that way and The Handmaiden is such a good movie that reading this book first won’t make much of a difference.
Also, reading this book gave me a much better appreciation for screenwriting and adaptations of books into movies and shows. Enjoy!

Wish it Were Longer

Any additional comments?

If you like backdrops of tough, old timey England, and you like strong female characters with pluck, then read this book. You'll get all that and more with Fingersmith. This story pulled me in like a bedtime story for grown-ups. I felt I was on an magical ride with the heroine, caring about her ups and downs, and wishing it all lasted longer.