Fingersmith, Sarah Waters's acclaimed 2002 novel, is a tale of deception and desire set in Victorian England, 1862. Sue Trinder, an orphan raised among London's petty thieves, becomes entangled in an elaborate scheme to swindle Maud Lilly, a wealthy heiress, of her fortune. Posing as Maud's maid, Sue soon discovers that nothing is what it seems. As betrayals multiply and identities unravel, shocking reversals upend everything—including the two women's own hearts, as an unexpected love blossoms amid the cruel manipulations. Blending crime fiction, gothic suspense, and romance, this Man Booker Prize-shortlisted novel is a masterwork of plot and atmosphere.
