Affinity

When I finally learned how to read at the late ago of seven I stopped seeing words as a series of letters and started seeing pictures instead. Not just the picture one word projected or one sentence, but the whole book. I started reading books as though they were movies and so learned to read faster because I was so immersed in the atmosphere of the book.Atmosphere has always been the most important part of the book to me. If I can't really believe my surroundings while I'm reading then the book just isn't worth finishing.From the very first page of this book I heard creepy piano music, saw dim lights that were almost depressing and a lot of the color gray. This may not seem like an atmosphere you'd want to spend 350+ pages in, but it fit the story so well that I was just lost in the book. The author's power of description was perfect and made reading this book a true experience."Affinity" is told in two parts, a narrative in diary form set about a year in the past from the main story from the point of view of Selina Dawes, a young spiritualist in 1870's London arrested for assault and fraud and a diary by Margaret Prior a wealthy spinster who has become a lady visitor at a prison to take her mind off some mystery shrouded event in her life.. The two alternate-Selina with extremely vague and short entries that leave you wondering if she has spiritual powers or is just a clever fraud and Michelle detailing everything that happens in her unhappy home life and her obsessive visits to Milbank prison. The two together bring forth at atmosphere of grayness, misunderstanding and silence, weather imposed by prison guards or polite society. Truly they do so seem to have an affinity to them.But as the book progresses and we learn more of Selina and Margaret strange things start to happen. Items disappear from Margaret's bedroom and Selina says that the sprits took them-and on top of that she knows things Margaret could have never told her. A sort of link develops between the two leading to their final plan and the revelation that changes everything.I liked this book a lot and was very surprised by the turns and twists its story took. That atmosphere as I've said was excellent and really did its job of transporting the reader into the story. But for some reason the story didn't call out to me so while I did like this book I didn't love it.Four stars

Sometimes you might hope for an atmospheric novel that will sweep you into its pages. Now I must remind myself, be careful what you wish for. This story is filled with seances, toxic fogs, stuffy drawing rooms, human misery, and hundreds of pages of freezing cold, damp, smelly, prison cells. Is it atmospheric? Yes. Is any of it an atmosphere where you want to linger? No. This book tells an odd story in an odd way. The chapters skip back and forth over a few years in the 1870’s in London. We hear the story of Selina, the clairvoyant, during her heyday running seances mainly at the home of her patroness in London. And then we hear the story of Margaret, a wealthy young woman suffering from a lost forbidden love, grief at her father’s death, and her dread of a hopeless, loveless future in the repressed society. It is hinted that Margaret is being watched carefully after a failed suicide attempt. Besides dosing her with opiates, her treatment is to “do good” by being a lady visitor at the woman’s prison. Not a great idea. Margaret’s story is told in her first-person journal entries. The stories of Margaret and Selina overlap because Selina is in prison after the death of her patroness following a séance gone wrong. The best part of this story is the ending-partly because you are thankful that the book is finally over and partly because it is in the clever ending that a plot is revealed and tied up. The writing is good although the reader remains distant from the characters. The tone and feel are very dark and oppressive. The pacing borders on glacial. The book is 370 pages that reads like 500 pages- not a good thing. It becomes repetitive in establishing the prison conditions and the background material. This was a book group selection for my group. In one sense it was successful, because the selection got me to read some thing that I otherwise would not have chosen. But this book did not touch my heart, enlighten me about human nature, or provide insight into an unknown aspect of the world.

“Why do gentlemen’s voices carry so clearly, when women’s are so easily stifled?” This one has more to love than just whiskers and gowns…Murderers, arsonists, pickpockets, and jewel swindlers coexist amidst smothering silences, deception, and one strongly influential presence. As readers are taken down shadowy corridors in prison wards, wicked deeds are revealed and desperate longings come to light. Concealed lockets, wax moulds, and collected ropes of hair lead to an astonishing conclusion that no one will see coming.Once she’s “got you wrapped around her finger like a borrowed string on a five-cent kite,” subconscious motivations are no longer your own. 💀

Another intriguing and absorbing read from the pen of Sara Waters. Set in late 19th century London, Affinity traces the blossoming but forbidden relationship between Margaret Prior, a Lady Visitor at the city’s Millbank Jail, and Selina Dawes, a spirit-medium imprisoned for assault and fraud. Although not physically incarcerated, Margaret is in a prison of her own kind: set apart by her sexuality, she is lonely and ill-at-ease in a society that offers her no sense of belonging. When her infatuation with Selina grows into an all-absorbing passion, she barely hesitates when presented with a plan that could set them both free.This is a beautifully narrated story, in parts dark and atmospheric, in others sensual and even erotic. Waters’ prose is so evocative, you can almost feel the dampness and darkness of the prison and the wretchedness of the poor women held there. Set against this - and all the more powerful for it - we have Selina’s charisma and the slow awakening of Margaret’s desire, things of beauty in a place of horror.As always, Waters’ characterization is both convincing and compelling. We discover Margaret, in all her facets, through the writings in her diary, where she lays bare her most intimate thoughts. Selina, on the other hand, remains enigmatic right until the end, when her true nature is finally revealed.This is a book to be savored word by word, chapter by chapter ... until the startling denouement, which will have you turning the final pages at speed, as you race to discover Margaret and Selina’s fate. So consumed was I by Affinity, I needed several days to absorb and process it before picking up a new book.Thanks for reading my review. I hope you found it helpful. You can find more candid book reviews on my Amazon profile page.

Sarah Waters has researched the language and history of this period and produced a powerful story that reflects the social oppressions of the time. The prison setting is like a metaphor and highlights the injustices of the Victorian era. The narrator, Margaret Prior, also has to endure the oppressive atmosphere in her home life with her interfering mother and so visiting female prisoners inside Millbank was an escape from her own confinement and gave her the ability to have empathy with the women she met inside. I loved the description of the prison and having worked inside one myself, I enjoyed the way Sarah Waters gave such vivid descriptions of the conditions. Her research was extensive and fascinating although I think there were a couple of typos where she mentioned a radiator inside the prison which I’m sure couldn’t have existed and on one occasion the prison warden was referred to as an officer which I doubt they were called in that period but I may be wrong. The plot was exciting and unlike many works of fiction was unpredictable despite the clues and totally convincing. I loved the characters. Selina the spirit medium was totally believable as a character as was Margaret. Leaving an open ending for Margaret was the best choice because her fate was inevitable and therefore already assumed without having to bother painting the picture. We know what her outcome must be. When I’d finished reading this book I felt lost. The language once I’d got into it was addictive and I want to go back into that prison again!! Now I understand why my mother raved about the writing of Sarah Waters and read Tipping the Velvet 3 times. 20 years later I’ve finally discovered Sarah Waters.

I’ve only just discovered this author and can’t wait to choose my next book of hers.Talk about ticking all my boxes! Her writing; amazing. I didn’t skip one word. The characters; yup, I knew them so well. The setting; OMG! Fabulous. The plot; well, you’ll have to read it yourself because I’m not spoiling it for you. I’ll say this though, if you love a good twist, then sit back and wait for it.I noticed one disappointed reviewer said the Kindle version was terrible because it put &’s in for ‘and’ everywhere. It hasn’t, they’re used in Selina’s account of events only, but that must have been lost on that reader.

..."nearly impossible to shake off an overwhelming feeling of gloom and pervasive dread" -one of the reviews on line. I agree - by page 100 I felt like the last thing I wanted in Millbank was the heroine's company. This is a book where the author can be comfortably considered indulgent. I hesitate to say clever - the author is far too modest to put her hand up for that. But the story - well, be honest, the narrative, because there is barely any story - the narrative goes on. And on. And on. There is no escape. No redemption. Eventually you are pulled down into the torpitude which is characterised as historical faction. Lesbian Dickens? Oh dear oh dear, what a diservice that is to the Virago stable. From architectural narrative which in itself is self defeating - descriptions of blueprints overide a sense of place and imagery which any quick search on the internet could clarify in a moment - to the apparently ease with which some of the major functions of Millbank at that time are conveniently ignored (by the way, what was the purpose of the 'diary' chapter headings - what did they add?). Is Ms Waters a good writer? Of course she is. She writes well. She writes efficiently. But this book provides all the enjoyment and wonder and sense of escape that a literate and stolid recipe for a souffle could. Pulp fiction for the self deluding elite. Now go and read Toni Morrison. Or Hilary Mantel. Please.

Sarah Waters’ very atmospheric story ‘Affinity’ focuses on two women: Selina Dawes, a spirit medium who is incarcerated in prison after being convicted of assault and fraud; and Margaret Prior, an unmarried woman in her late twenties, who is recovering from a nervous breakdown and who, in her new role as Lady Visitor, has just begun to pay visits to Selina in her cell. Emotionally and mentally very fragile, Margaret is still mourning the death of her much-loved father and is suffering also from the loss of her intimate friend, the beautiful Helen, with whom she was in love and who is now married to Margaret’s brother. In this vulnerable and highly emotional state, Margaret soon becomes deeply attracted to the enigmatic Selina and, convinced that her imprisonment is a miscarriage of justice and believing that Selina has powers that ordinary mortals do not understand, Margaret finds her days and nights becoming totally consumed with thoughts of her new-found friend. But is Selina as innocent as Margaret thinks? And are Margaret’s intentions towards Selina entirely altruistic?As commented in my opening paragraph, this is a highly atmospheric story; Victorian London with its mists and fogs is almost as much a part of the story as the jail in which Selina is incarcerated - the reader can see, feel and almost smell the conditions of the notorious Millbank Prison. In addition Margaret’s stifling home life is very well portrayed and where the author shows that although Margaret’s physical position is very different to Selina’s, Margaret too feels as if she were in a prison, not solely one of her own making but of other people's also - namely her controlling mother and the knowledge that her attraction to women is not acceptable to those around her. Told in first-person narratives from the prospectives of both Margaret and Selina, this is a story which really drew me into the protagonists’ lives and although I worked out the twist at the end of the tale, this was some way into the novel and didn’t spoil my overall enjoyment and admiration of Ms Waters’ storytelling skills - and if you don’t work out what is going to happen, you’ll most probably enjoy this even more than I did. Highly recommended.5 Stars.