Fingersmith (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781573229722)

"Oliver Twist with a twist...Waters spins an absorbing tale that withholds as much as it discloses. A pulsating story."--The New York Times Book Review

The Handmaiden, a film adaptation of Fingersmith, directed by Park Chan-wook and starring Kim Tae-Ri, is now available.

Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby's household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves--fingersmiths--for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.

One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives--Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a na?e gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud's vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of--passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.

With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways...But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.

Author: Sarah Waters
ISBN-10: 1573229725
ISBN-13: 9781573229722
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Language: English
Published: 10/01/2002
Pages: 600
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.02lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.20w x 1.30d

Review Citation(s):
Entertainment Weekly 11/08/2002 pg. 110
New York Times 11/10/2002 pg. 24
Booksense '76 Jan/Feb 2003 01/01/2003 pg. 1