Press Reviews

• Independent

  Intelligent, 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

• Observer

  Waters is an extremely confident writer, combining precise, sensuous descriptions with irony and wit. This is a lively, gutsy, highly readable debut

• Independent on Sunday

  An 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

• Daily Telegraph

  This could be the most important debut of its kind since that of Jeanette Winterson

• Christina Patterson

  Observer

  An extremely confident writer, combining precise, sensuous descriptions with irony and wit in a skilled, multi-layered pastiche of the lesbian historical romance

• New York Times Book Review

  Erotic and absorbing... Written with startling power

• San Francisco Chronicle

  Wonderful... a sensual experience that leaves the reader marveling at the author's craftsmanship, idiosyncrasy, and sheer effort

• Newsday

  Compelling... readers of all sexes and orientations should identify with this gutsy hero as she learns who she is and how to love

• Seattle Times

  Delectable... written in roguishly lilting prose filled with the sights, sounds and stenches of London street life

• Boston Globe

  Glorious... an exceptional debut

• Kirkus

  Richly entertaining... Waters's debut offers terrific entertainment: swiftly paced, crammed with colorful depictions of 1890s London and vividly sketched Dickensian supporting characters, pulsating with highly charged (and explicitly presented) erotic heat

• Publishers Weekly

  This lush tale fearlessly and feverishly exposes the political, social and sexual subversions of Victorian-era gender-benders: sapphists, libertines and passing women... Waters is a masterful storyteller... Nancy's search for love and identity is a raucous, passionate adventure and a rare, thrilling read