BookBuff's Book Review of
"Affinity" by Sarah Waters

"Affinity" is Sarah Waters' second novel and, personally, my favorite of the three. I love the dark mysterious environment she creates and to add to that, the plot is almost impossible to predict. The setting is Victorian era London. The novel evolves around the female inmates at Millbank Prison - women imprisoned for villainous acts, according to the society of the time, ranging from petty theft to murder. The period detail in the book (and there's lots of it) is apparently based on fact and, as a reader, I don't question it at all. Miss Prior, the protagonist of the novel, and our narrator, does not know what she is getting herself into when she befriends a mysterious female inmate during her voluntary visits to the prison. Intrigue, devotion, deception, passion, and more, are so masterfully intertwined in this story that you can't tell one from the other, at least not until the very end.

You can contact BookBuff at bookbuff@dcdykes.com.

[back to top]