In my to be read pile.

Book Synopsis:

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 one apparently innocent inmate, the enigmatic spiritualist Selina Dawes. Selina was imprisoned after a seance she was conducting went horribly awry, leaving an elderly matron dead and a young woman profoundly 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.

Release planned for Tuesday, May 13, 2003 at bookcrosser lightwavz in Detroit, Michigan USA.

Mailing off to bookcrosser Lightwavz

Just received in the mail today. Thanks, petfriday! I didn't realize that this was the same author that wrote "Tipping the Velvet." I saw that BBC America was running it as a movie and so I think I would like to read that one as well... I'll put this towards the top of the TBR pile and journal when done...

I've decided to send this out as a BookRing as it has gotten so popular on cliff1976's wishlist site. I don't want to hold up the flow, so I will read it last when it comes back to me. Here's the final list, no more add-ons please (so I can read it in the next year or so ;)!!)

blacksheeps99 - Austria
Suskiin - Spain
pchemphd - US
caligula03 - US
kymberlie - US
melissaparcel - US
ALIVE - US
mrsordonez - US

then back to me... PHEW!

then dibs to
Flashgirl - US
who had to skip earlier in the ring.

I'm going to laminate this one's cover with contact paper so that it makes the journey in one piece. Hope everyone enjoys this fiction and thanks to petfriday for giving me the book to begin with!!

Received the book yesterday - Thanks a lot for starting this bookring!

I´m looking forward to read it!!

Finished reading this brilliant book - now I have to read the other books by Sarah Waters!

The author's writing is so convincing that you become completely absorbed by it, and everything becomes believable, which makes the dramatic twist at the end of the book doubly shocking.

The details of Victorian life, and especially the prison system are so well researched, they draw you completely so it is hard to let go when you close the book.

A very intriguing book, capturing many of the themes and contrasts of Victorian society - its idle rich, squalid prisons, lonely spinsters, shallow rich, desperate poor and the fashionable obsession with spiritualism.

Sent to Suskiin on Thursday - I hope you enjoy it!

Received today in the post!

I was wanting to read some book by Sarah Waters since I had read some very good comments about her novels. This has been my first novel by her and I really enjoyed it. There is something cloudy, dark, misterious throughout all the history and it is so easy to get into the plot and "swim" into the long passages of Millbank! I really enjoyed this book a lot and I recommend it fondly everybody. Just done, I am preparing it to send to the next into the list.

Got the message from Suskiin that Flashgirl wants to be skipped for now. Then Flashgirl wrote to confirm... Added after me for "dibs" after the ring is finished. Next up, pchemphd! (Thanks, Suskiin!)

This book arrived in the mail yesterday. Thank you for sending it to me.

I got half way through and just couldn't concentrate well enough to finish it. I think it's just not my cup of tea right now.

The book arrived today along with three other rings. I will read it as soon as I can.

The first two thirds of Affinity reminded a great deal of The Snake Pit by Mary Jane Ward, a novel from the point of view of a woman in a sanitarium recovering from a nervous breakdown. But by the middle of second act, as Margaret Prior researches mysticism, the blandness of her life and the lives of the inmates begins to reveal pent up emtions. Under the guise of communion with the "spirits" Affinity spirals into a story filled with sexual tension, intrigue and madness. I was so caught up in Margaret's emotions that I completely missed Selena's devious playing of all the people in her life to ultimately win her freedom and prove in the process that she really did deserve her sentence in Millbank!

Release planned for Saturday, August 28, 2004 at kymberlie in n/a, n/a Controlled Releases.

Mailing on Saturday.

I received this recently but forgot to journal it. Oops! Going on my to be read pile.

In late September of 1874, Margaret Prior becomes a Lady Visitor - a woman who visits the inmates giving them friendship and guidance in hope that when they are released they will better their lives and turn away from crime - to Millbank Prison in London.

The prison is, of course, a dark, sad place with two hundred and seventy women incarcerated (there are also men, but they don’t figure into the story). On her first visit she is captivated by the sight of a young woman holding a violet that she puts to her lips and breathes upon.

She becomes enthralled by this woman, a medium with the beautiful name of Selina Dawes and a face like that of an angel by the painter Crivelli, and an unlikely friendship which soon becomes fraught with much more.

I don’t want to say much more about the plot of the novel since half of its intrigue was in determining what had happened, not only to Selina but also to Miss Prior. Why is she watched so closely by her mother? What is the illness that she speaks of?

I enjoyed reading the book and trying to figure out where the story would go next. It was delightfully entertaining despite the somber tones of the novel. Highly recommended for those that like their stories enigmatic and a bit dark.