Tipping The Velvet
Virago(February 1998)
www.virago.co.uk
Sensuous and bawdy, TIPPING THE VELVET plunges the reader into the colourful world of the music hall business in 19th century London. 18-year-old Nan leads an ordinary life, working as an oyster girl in the kitchen of her father’s seaside restaurant. The night she sets eyes on Kitty, male impersonator extraordinaire, however, her life takes a dramatic turn. Nan doesn’t rest until she can meet her heroine and soon after, becomes her dresser. The two of them head for the bright lights of Leicester Square, where their all-singing and dancing double act quickly becomes famous. Meanwhile, behind closed doors, their attraction for each other begins and leads Nan on an extraordinary picaresque journey of self-discovery.
“A sexy and picaresque romp through the lesbian and queer demi-monde of the roaring nineties … its gorgeous”. – Mel Steel, Independent on Sunday
“This could be the most important debut of its kind since that of Jeanette Winterson”. -- Daily Telegraph
Foreign rights have been sold to the U.S.A, Spain, Germany, Greece, France, Russia, China, Israel, Brazil, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Latvia, Italy, the Czech Republic and Holland.
A 3-part TV adaptation was screened on BBC2 in Autumn 2002 and on BBC America in May 2003 to rave reviews and excellent viewing figures.
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