Fingersmith

　　From the author of the New York Times Notable Book Tipping the Velvet and the award-winning Affinity: a spellbinding, twisting tale of a great swindle, of fortunes and hearts won and lost, set in Victorian London among a family of thieves.
　　
　　 Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if... (展开全部) 　　From the author of the New York Times Notable Book Tipping the Velvet and the award-winning Affinity: a spellbinding, twisting tale of a great swindle, of fortunes and hearts won and lost, set in Victorian London among a family of thieves.
　　
　　 Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby's household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves-fingersmiths-for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.
　　
　　 One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives-Gentleman, a somewhat elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud's vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be left to live out her days in a mental hospital. With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways. . . . But no one and nothing is as it seems in this > Dickensian novel of thrills and surprises.
　　
　　 The New York Times Book Review has called Sarah Waters a writer of "consummate skill" and The Seattle Times has praised her work as "gripping, astute fiction that feeds the mind and the senses." Fingersmith marks a major leap forward in this young and brilliant career.　　

　　英国知名同性恋女作家莎拉•沃特斯（Sarah Waters),1966年生于威尔士的彭布鲁克郡。她在肯特大学和兰凯斯特大学攻读英国文学，毕业后曾在书店和图书馆短暂工作，随后返回大学继续研究生深造，获得英国文学博士学位。她的研究领域是女同性恋和男同性恋历史小说，曾在许多刊物上发表关于性别、性和历史的文章。 在撰写博士论文时，她对19世纪的伦敦生活产生了浓厚的兴趣，并开始撰写小说。 她此前出版的三部小说《轻击天鹅绒》（Tipping the Velvet）、《亲和力》（Affinity ）和《指匠情挑》（Fingersmith）一起被赞誉为维多利亚三部曲。三部作品均以维多利亚时代为背景，不仅在优雅飘渺的氛围中呈现出英国女性在世纪更迭时期探索真爱与自我认同的生命历程，而且对于当时的伦敦生活百态亦有相当深刻而翔实的描绘。
　　莎拉•沃特斯曾经荣获著名同性恋文学奖“石墙图书奖”（Stonewall Book Award）和“萨默塞特•毛姆男女同性恋小说奖”（Somerset Maugham Award for Lesbian and Gay Fiction）。2002年，她还因作品《 Fingersmith》（中文有译“指匠情挑”）获得英国布克奖的提名。2006年，她再次因《The Night Watch》获得布克奖提名，并被评为首届“石墙文学奖”的年度作家。