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Affinity

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Affinity

By: Sarah Waters
Narrated by: Juanita McMahon
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Set in and around the women's prison at Milbank in the 1870's, Affinity is an eerie and utterly compelling ghost story, a complex and intriguing literary mystery, and a poignant love story with an unexpected twist in the tale.

Following the death of her father, Margaret Prior has decided to pursue some 'good work' with the lady criminals of one of London's most notorious gaols. Surrounded by prisoners, murderers, and common thieves, Margaret feels herself drawn to one of the prison's more unlikely inmates - the imprisoned spiritualist Selina Dawes.

Sympathetic to the plight of this innocent-seeming girl, Margaret sees herself dispensing guidance and perhaps friendship on her visits, little expecting to find herself dabbling in a twilight world of seances, shadows, unruly spirits, and unseemly passions.

©1999 Sarah Waters (P)1999 W F Howes Ltd Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime Scary Mystery
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Critic reviews

"Spooky, spellbinding, exquisitely written . . . I do believe Waters is on the way to becoming a major literary star" (Val Hennessy)
"Indeed, this is such a brilliant writer that her readers would believe anything she told them" (A. N. Wilson, Daily Mail)
"Refined, repressed and simmering . . . a delicious tale of Victorian spiritualism" (Mel Steel, Independent on Sunday)
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had me going there for a while too. great read. twists and turns. loved it and could t put it down.

great book. could t put it down

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Found it slow and the old voices a little grating at first but glad I stuck with it. Couldn’t stop listening once engaged: locked in. 👏🏻

Slow burn but held you once captured!

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Yet another frustrated spinster is the heroine of this book until she finds a project to occupy her time by becoming a prison visitor. In the prison she comes under the spell of a prisoner called 'Dawes' and gradually she is drawn into the world of spiritism. As the story unfolds we understand that 'Aurora' had been in love with her brother's wife and had suffered a nervous breakdown from disappointed expectations. This has led her mother to treat her with various opiates. I think the historical detail is wonderful and the Victorian world recreated in a most convincing fashion. I don't know whether it is the pace of the narrator's reading which gave me the impression of a rather slow moving story through the first part of the book. It did seem to be slightly tedious at times. However the pace really picked up in the second part and the ending was marvellous. The debunking of the spiritism was very well done indeed. In spite of the slow start I would reccommend this book as it is a very enjoyable read on the whole.

Slow going at first but speeds up well.

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After struggling all the way through this book, I have I have never been so disappointed. I have enjoyed others she wrote, and I but this was long and drawn out for a really bad end definitely thumbs down ☹️

Seriously bad ending. I really disappointed ☹️

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raced to the finish. loved it. waters brings to life Victorian women's prison. master storyteller. McMahon reads beautifully.

gripping story.

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