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.

subjects: Female impersonators,  Fiction,  Gay men,  History,  Lesbians,  Relations with lesbians,  Social life and customs,  Transvestites,  Cross-dressers,  Fiction, lesbian,  England, fiction,  Fiction, historical,  Lesbians, fiction,  LGBTQ novels,  Lambda Literary Awards,  Lambda Literary Award Winner,  LGBTQ historical fiction,  Music-halls (Variety-theaters, cabarets, etc.),  Identity,  Fiction, historical, general,  English drama,  English literature,  Ferro-Grumley Award for Lesbian Fiction Finalist

People: Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)

Places: England,  Great Britain

Times: 19th century,  Victoria, 1837-1901