« NEWS: Costa Book of the Year | Main | BOOK REVIEW: Coming Up Next by Penny Smith »

January 30, 2009 9:49 AM

FRIDAY FLICK: Affinity

Now, I don’t know about you, but Christmas for me is all about Gothic romance.

Whether I’m curled up with a collection of Victorian ghost stories while the fog rolls outside my window, or plumped on the sofa, stuffed with cherry liqueurs, watching Mark Gatiss’ excellent Crooked House mini-series, “eldritch” and “half-glimpsed” are the buzzwords of the day.

And it was with this festive spine-tingly anticipation that I tuned into Affinity, ITV1’s adaptation of Sarah Waters’ second novel. 

Like previous TV adaptations of Waters' novels Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet, Affinity is set in Victorian London and has a female protagonist.  Affinity's main character is Margaret Prior, played with a skilful nervy sensuality by Anna Madeley.

Margaret is an educated young woman with her own opinions and a quick mind.  She has recently lost her father and isn’t as keen on marrying as her family would like. To occupy herself, Margaret becomes a “lady visitor” to Millbank prison, talking to the female prisoners and generally giving them something to aspire to with her neat little hats and general moral uprightery.

But Margaret is quickly drawn to one prisoner in particular – notorious “spirit medium” Selena Dawes (played by Zoe Tapper), who is serving time for killing a young girl during a séance.  The prison is a bleak, stony place but somehow Selena has procured some wild flowers – she tells Margaret that the “spirits” brought them to her.

As Margaret becomes more involved with Selena, we are shown flashes of both their histories.  Margaret is so averse to marriage because she is in fact in love with a woman – once her lover, now her sister-in-law, and we learn that Selena is perhaps more opportunistic than the whispering ingénue Margaret believes her to be.

Margaret soon comes to believe that Selena is innocent of her crime (Selena puts the blame squarely on her “spirit guide”, Peter Quick) and moreover that she and Selena are soulmates.  With a lot of help from Selena – and possibly denizens of the spirit world – the story winds to its conclusion with plenty of whispered promises and bumps in the night on the way.

I really enjoyed the novel and one thing I think was missing from this adaptation is Margaret’s sparse, poetical narration.  But, apart from the hands being played a little too early,  this is a brilliantly atmospheric version, well-played, subtle, and best of all – spooky.

Affinity is now available to buy and rent on DVD.

Came straight to this page? Visit www.trashionista.com for more female fiction news, reviews and interviews.

Posted by Robyn Wilder on January 30, 2009 in Friday Flick, Rating: 4/5 | Permalink

Comments