Fingersmith

Overview

The lives of two young women collide in Victorian England when a trio of ‘fingersmiths’ (pick-pockets) concoct an elaborate scam to defraud a young heiress of her inheritance. The story alternates between the twisting back alleyways of Dickensian London and the cloistered gloom of a Gothic mansion in 1862.

The author of the book also wrote Tipping the Velvet. I can’t really explain the twists and turns of this one, but it’s really gay. Happy endings to boot.