But the novel also makes clear something that perhaps had remained murky as it successful hid in the shadows for so long: laws which benefited men could be twisted to use by even more unscrupulous women who profited from the patriarchal mindset that women were either above such dastardly machinations or not intelligent enough to pull off schemes requiring outwitting highly educated and worldly males. Such laws made it easier for unscrupulous men to seduce young women out of their inheritance. Such laws made it easier for fathers to commit daughters and husbands to commit wives to asylums. The entire story is put into motion by patriarchal laws in place during the Victorian era which were still handing over far too much power to men at the expense of what should have been a no-brainer in terms of women’s rights. With that in mind, the narrative progression then goes on to show how sympathy can be given, taken away and handed right back at the whim of a talented author. Unless one absolutely knows all the facts, the story suggests, even the most sympathetic people may not really be what they seem.

In a way, the book serves as a warning against taking things at their face value as it asks the reader to consider the ways in which they can be manipulated by a storyteller into an emotional response to characters. The reader is introduced to people and situations as being one thing and before too long everything looks different. Sucksby, Susan writes: “Everything that came into our kitchen looking like one sort of thing, was made to leave it again looking quite another.” That pretty much describes the book in a nutshell. In describing the process of how the little gang of thieves operates under the management of Mrs.

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Fingersmith book summary