Affinity (Virago V S.)

by Sarah Waters

“Gothic tale, psychological study, puzzle narrative…This is gripping, astute fiction that feeds the mind and senses.”—The Seattle Times

An upper-class woman recovering from a suicide attempt, Margaret Prior has begun visiting the women’s ward of Millbank prison, Victorian London’s grimmest jail, as part of her rehabilitative charity work. Amongst Millbank’s murderers and common thieves, Margaret finds herself increasingly fascinated by on apparently innocent inmate, the enigmatic spiritualist Selina Dawes. Selina was imprisoned after a séance she was conducting went horribly awry, leaving an elderly matron dead and a young woman deeply disturbed. Although initially skeptical of Selina’s gifts, Margaret is soon drawn into a twilight world of ghosts and shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions, until she is at last driven to concoct a desperate plot to secure Selina’s freedom, and her own.

As in her noteworthy deput, Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters brilliantly evokes the sights and smells of a moody and beguiling nineteenth-century London, and proves herself yet again a storyteller, in the words of the New York Times Book Review, of "startling power."

• ISBN10: 1573228737
• ISBN13: 9781573228732
• Publish Date: 8 January 2002 (first published 6 May 1999)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Riverhead Books,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781573228732

Reviews

[Mad Soul Child]

нет слов. я в шоке. это было так офигенно, и так безнадежно трагично.

[nannah]

I've always heard of Sarah Waters, but I've never actually read (or watched an adaptation) anything by her until now. It's the type of story that really doesn't leave your mind after you're done reading ... given that I stayed up googling "But did this REALLY ____", "Okay, but how did _____" etc. It's also a relatively slow book at first until suddenly things are going faster and faster until you're just as stunned as the protagonist at where/how things are going. But I'm not about to give anything away.

Book content warnings:
suicide
abuse

Margaret Prior, an upper-class lady recovering from a suicide attempt, is visiting the women of Millbank Prison in an act of charity and in hopes that she will also gain some benefit and ... "perspective". It's there she meets (and becomes more and more fascinated by) Selina Dawes, the Spiritualist, imprisoned after one of her Seances left a woman dead. Margaret doesn't believe in her powers at first, but as her visits to the women's wards grow more frequent, she becomes entangled in Selina's Spirits. It eventually manifests into a plot to free Selina, but the plot is much more complicated than Margaret thinks.

I was definitely not prepared for this book. It's not a fast read, and it's not a lightweight read, that's for sure. But wow, I didn't think it would be that intense, either. I really don't want to give anything away, though, so I won't spill anything about how it ends.

Is it a tragic lesbian book? Not quite. So don't be turned away by anyone who says that it's so. But it isn't a happy read either (then again if you're familiar with Sarah Waters, I think that's pretty clear anyway).

The book plays with "what-ifs" in almost every aspect. It's told through a series of journal entries in both Margaret and Selina's PoV's, so you're never sure what's true. Are Selina's spirits real? Is Peter Quick -- Selina's main Spirit -- real? You never find out, and after reading it really can go both ways. That's basically how the book reads. Many parts of it can go in several ways. It's up to you to decide how you want to view it.

I can't say I didn't enjoy the book, because it was just so well written! But it was just so heavy and dark that I think it wouldn't be something I'd read over and over again.

[brokentune]

"Now I have more freedom than I ever had at any time in my life, and I do only the things I always have."

Affinity - a feeling of closeness and understanding that someone has for another person because of their similar qualities, ideas, or interests.

This book was not easy to get into. I'm neither a fan of Dickensian tales of woe nor of paranormal or supernatural stories, so for most of this book I was not convinced I would finish it, never mind like it.

The structure of the book was difficult, too. Chapters jump back and forth in time, and the narrative changes between the characters. I kept having to go back and re-read passages to remember where about in the story I was at - and which character.

However, Waters' writing detailing delicious descriptions of life in a Victorian women's prison was awesome. So awesome in fact that I felt like I was there in the bleak and rigid clasp of fear and despair - haunted (haha) by the question if the supernatural could be real. In fact, having read most of the book at night now that the darkness has gripped us up here in the North, made Affinity the perfect read in the run up to Halloween.

Affinity, as the title suggests, explores the relationship between different people, focusing mostly on upper-middle-class Margaret Prior, who volunteers to become a lady visitor in a London prison, and Selina Dawes, a notorius medium who has been sent down after being involved in a woman's death. However, affinity applies to other relationships in the book and each of them serves to paint a picture of the main character, Margaret Prior, and her struggle with life in London society during the 1870s.

As I mentioned, the book was a bit of a struggle for me at first but very rewarding in the end. The ending it self has been criticised by others, but I thought it was perfectly fitting, though not anywhere near as polished as the ending Waters' later books.


This review was originally posted on BookLikes: http://brokentune.booklikes.com/post/1028682/affinity

[celinenyx]

When I started this book, I had no idea how sad Affinity would make me. Because it does, and it has, for at least two days even after finishing the book.

Affinity is the tale Margaret, a young lady living in nineteenth-century London. After her father's death, Margaret has fallen ill for half a year. Now everything is slightly better, she has taken it upon her to visit the female inmates at the Millbank prison as Lady Visitor. Here she meets the spirit medium Serena, who starts to intrigue her more with every visit.

This novel unfolds very, very, very slowly. It's way shorter than the other book I have read by Sarah Waters, Fingersmith, but it doesn't contain as many plot twists as that one does. Affinity feels a lot slower. I didn't mind that much, because I happen to love the historical period, and I can easily be entertained by the gloomy mood. Still, after a while I started to wish for the end, because about ninety percent of this novel is build-up.

And when the end comes, it hits hard. I won't spoil anything for you, but I can assure you that if you have come to be affectionate towards any of the characters, it will stay with you. I personally didn't see it coming it all. It all wraps up neatly together, but not in a way you would normally get with this type of novel.

The character of Margaret is a very flawed one. We see most of the story through her eyes, and her weakness shows through every experience she has. She's not very easy to like, but I really did want her to get a happy ending, in any form or another. Madness, substance abuse and depression are a few of the underlying themes, but I wish they were more pronounced. Without explaining Margaret's mental condition, she's really just a weak woman that doesn't appreciate the things she has in life.

Affinity's strength is the vividness of the descriptions of Millbank. I could perfectly imagine the creaking iron, the cold labyrinth-like corridors, the sound of a key turning in its lock. Ms Waters is a master in painting a gloomy atmosphere.

I recommend this book if you really feel like reading something that will make you shiver. It's not as accessible as Fingersmith is, but it's still a great historical novel. Not for the inexperienced reader, as the novel is written in slightly lofty archaic language and style.

[Eve1972]

Another fabulous read from Sarah Waters, she is quickly becoming one of my fave authors!!

[empressbrooke]

Affinity is the story of Margaret, a young woman in Victorian era England, who attempts to commit suicide after her father dies. As part of her recovery, she becomes a "Lady Visitor" at a women's prison, an upper-class role model for the prisoners to look up to and emulate. She and one of the prisoners, Selina Dawes, end up falling for each other. Margaret spends her time away from her researching Selina's life and the crime that landed her in prison.

Much of the book is spent on the supernatural obsessions of the Victorian era: séances, mediums, and spirit guides all play a large role in the plot. Sarah Waters creates a bleak atmosphere that's almost overbearing after awhile. Between the confines of the prison and the confines of the roles women could play in the time period, the mood becomes almost oppressing.

I spent 90% of the book being dissatisfied with it. It crawls very, very slowly, and not very much actually happens. In reality, it is very expertly setting up a stunning denouement. The last few pages totally made my head spin and almost made the book worth the time I had spent reading it. However, I can't completely revise my opinion of the first 90%; it seems like a major flaw that it took the author so long to get there, or that she couldn't have made it more interesting in the meantime. I really want to recommend this book because the end is so brilliant, but I can't recommend sitting through what it takes to get there.