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

• Elle magazine

  The collection has been expertly put together to remind the reader that while the way we describe things has changed, the feelings behind them certainly haven't. Bold, beautiful ... everyone's appetites will be satisfied.