Tipping the velvet

Description

Nan King, an oyster girl, is captivated by the music hall phenomenon Kitty Butler, a male impersonator extraordinaire treading the boards in Canterbury. Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally meet her heroine. Soon after, she becomes Kitty's dresser and the two head for the bright lights of Leicester Square where they begin a glittering career as music-hall stars in an all-singing and dancing double act. At the same time, behind closed doors, they admit their attraction to each other and their affair begins.

Description

"A classic picaresque, Tipping the Velvet chronicles the adventures of Nancy King, who begins life as an oyster girl in the provincial seaside town of Whitstable and whose fortunes are forever changed when she falls in love with a cross-dressing music hall singer named Miss Kitty Butler. When Kitty is called up to London for an engagement on "Grease Paint Avenue," Nan follows as her dresser and secret lover. Before long, Nan dons trousers herself, and the two male impersonators become a celebrated pair of the stage. But when Kitty betrays her, a solitary, heartbroken Nan reinvents herself as a butch roue - a sort of Moll Flanders in drag - navigating her way through London's seamy and flourishing gay demimonde as she pursues her thrilling and varied sexual education."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

Other Editions

• Tipping the velvetHardcoverRiverhead Books1999-01-01
• Tipping the VelvetLittle, Brown Book Group Limited1998-01-01
• Tipping the velvetRiverhead Books1999-01-01
• Tipping the Velvet B SignedLittle, Brown Book Group Limited1999-01-01
• Tipping the velvetVirago Press2000-01-01
• Tipping the velvetRiverhead Books2000-01-01