Lesbian love in the (18)60s
Essentially a very twisted love story, Fingersmith is the second adaptation of a classic Sarah Waters lesbian-themed novel. Although Fingersmith isn’t as sexy as the previous BBC/ Waters adaptation, Tipping The Velvet, there’s enough intrigue and mystery to make up for it. Fingersmith co-stars Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake) and Sally Hawkins (also seen as Zena the maid in Tipping The Velvet) as the baby-farmer Mrs Sucksby and the poor but good Susan Trinder, and Elaine Cassidy plays the rich but bad Maud Lilly. And Rupert Evans is deliciously evil as the villainous Richard Gentleman Rivers. Waters’s loyal readers might expect a slower pace, but Fingersmith, recently released by Shock on DVD, sports a truly fabulous twist.
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