From Publishers WeeklyWith a
title that's a euphemism for cunnilingus and a plot awash with graphic
lesbian sex, this lush tale fearlessly and feverishly exposes the
political, social and sexual subversions of Victorian-era
gender-benders: sapphists, libertines and passing women. Set in 1890s
London against a backdrop of music halls and socialist demonstrations,
Waters's debut (published to acclaim in England) is an engrossing story
of a "tommish" woman battered and buoyed by the mores of the times. At
18, Nancy Astley is a fishmonger in coastal Whitstable, working with her
sister and parents in the family oyster parlour. Smitten by male
impersonator Kitty Butler, Nancy attends every show at the Canterbury
Palace until the star notices her. A stunned Nancy finds herself Kitty's
companion and dresser, and sexual tension keeps the pages turning as
she becomes first Kitty's sweetheart, then her partner ("two lovely
girls in trousers, instead of one!") in a wildly successful stage act.
Kitty's shame over her sexual preference sends her into marriage to
their manager, Walter Bliss, propelling devastated Nancy into a series
of erotic excursions and a struggle for survival, first passing as a
young man and hustling, then as wealthy widow Diana Lethaby's kept
"tart," finally as the housekeeper for union organizer Florence Banner.
Waters is a masterful storyteller, tantalizing the reader as Nancy
endures melancholy squalor, betrayals, the lustful motives of swindling
gay-girls and imperious ladies. The circumstances by which Nancy finally
finds true love are unpredictable and moving. Amid the gentlemen
trolling Piccadilly Circus for trysts with "renter" boys and the wealthy
female guests of the Cavendish Clubs "Sapphists Only" parties, Nancy's
search for love and identity is a raucous, passionate adventure, and a
rare, thrilling read. Agent, Judith Murray.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.