SARAH WATERS (b.1966)
Tipping the Velvet. London: Virago, 1998.
First edition of Sarah Waters’ debut novel, a riveting journey through love, life, and London, annotated by the author with close to 1000 words. Named one of the best books of the year by the New York Times in 1998 and subsequently adapted for the screen and stage, Tipping the Velvet charts the coming-of-age of Nan King, a working class oyster girl turned music-hall performer and 'cross-dressed Piccadilly prostitute'. In this captivating first edition, annotated by Sarah Waters in black ink, the author provides unique insights into everything from Victorian colloquialisms to her writing process to reveal precisely what makes Tipping the Velvet her ‘happiest writing experience’ to date. Combining wry humour with a researcher’s meticulous attention to detail, Waters refers extensively to the history of lesbian relationships in nineteenth-century England as well as works by queer authors who inspired her work. Nan’s relationship to the city echoes Waters’ own ‘happy, romantic years’ living in London in the 1990s. Looking back in August 2020, Waters playfully reflects upon exactly what makes her characters ‘tick’, and why her protagonist ‘needs a good kick up the arse.’

Octavo. Original pictorial wrappers (minor creasing and faint marks).

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