Fingersmith - Part I - Chapter One - Susan Trinder

Aug 25, 2026

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A first-person account opens Part I, Chapter One, narrated by Susan Trinder, known as “Sue,” who describes her uncertain birth, orphanhood, and life tied to Mrs Sucksby and Mr Ibbs in London near the Thames. The chapter recalls being taken by Flora to beg at a performance of Oliver Twist, the terror sparked by the play’s violence and crowd reaction, and Mrs Sucksby’s harsh, knowing response. Nancy’s fate and Bill Sykes’s cruelty are addressed through Sue’s fears.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages353

Reading Time9 h 4 min

AccessFree to download

Part I

Chapter One

Fingersmith By Sarah Waters PART I Chapter One My name, in those days, was Susan Trinder. People called me Sue. I know the year I was born in, but for many years I did not know the date, and took my birthday at Christmas. I believe I am an orphan. My mother I know is. dead. But I never saw her, she was nothing to me . I was Mrs Sucksby's child, if I was anyone's; and for father I had Mr Ibbs, who kept the locksmith's shop, at Lant Street, in the Borough, near to the Thames. This is the first time I remember thinking about the world and my place in it. There was a girl named Flora, who paid Mrs Sucksby a penny to take me begging at a play. People used to like to take me begging then, for the sake of my bright hair; and Flora being also very fair, she would pass me off as her sister. The theatre she took me to, on the night I am thinking of now, was the Surrey, St George's Circus. The play was Oliver Twist. I remember it as very terrible. I remember the tilt of the gallery, and the drop to the pit. I remember a drunken woman catching at the ribbons of my dress. I remember the flares, that made the stage very lurid; and the roaring of the actors, the shrieking of the crowd. They had one of the characters in a red wig and whiskers: I was certain he was a monkey in a coat, he capered so . Worse still was the snarling, pink-eyed dog; worst of all was that dog's master—Bill Sykes, the fancy-man . When he struck the poor girl Nancy with his club, the people all down our row got up. There was a boot thrown at the stage. A woman beside me cried out, 'Oh, you beast! You villain! And her worth forty of a bully like you!' I don't know if it was the people getting up—which made the gallery seem to heave about; or the shrieking woman; or the sight of Nancy, lying perfectly pale and still at Bill Sykes's feet; but I became gripped by an awful terror. I thought we should all be killed. I began to scream, and Flora could not quiet me . And when the woman who had called out put her arms to me and smiled, I screamed out louder. Then Flora began to weep—she was only twelve or thirteen, I suppose. She took me home, and Mrs Sucksby slapped her. 'What was you thinking of, taking her to such a thing?' she said. 'You was to sit with her upon the steps. I don't hire my infants out to have them brought back like this, turned blue with screaming. What was you playing at?' She took me upon her lap, and I wept again. 'There now, my lamb,' she said. Flora stood before her, saying nothing, pulling a strand of hair across her scarlet cheek. Mrs Sucksby was a devil with her dander up. She looked at Flora and tapped her slippered foot upon the rug, all the time rocking in her chair—that was a great creaking wooden chair, that no-one sat in save her—and beating her thick, hard hand upon my shaking back. Then, 'I know your little rig,' she said quietly. She knew everybody's rig. 'What you get? A couple of wipers, was it? A couple of wipers, and a lady's purse?' Flora pulled the strand of hair to her mouth, and bit it. 'A purse,' she said, after a second. 'And a bottle of scent.' 'Show,' said Mrs Sucksby, holding out her hand. Flora's face grew darker. But she put her fingers to a tear at the waist of her skirt, and reached inside it; and you might imagine my surprise when the tear turned out to be not a tear at all, but the neck of a little silk pocket that was sewn inside her gown. She brought out a black cloth bag, and a bottle with a stopper on a silver chain. The bag had threepence in it, and half a nutmeg. Perhaps she got it from the drunken woman who plucked at my dress. The bottle, with its stopper off, smelt of roses. Mrs Sucksby sniffed. 'Pretty poor poke,' she said, 'ain't it?' Flora tossed her head. 'I should have had more,' she said, with a look at me, 'if she hadn't started up with the sterics.' Mrs Sucksby leaned and hit her again. 'If I had known what you was about,' she said, 'you shouldn't have had none of it at a

FAQs

Who is the narrator in Chapter One, and what name does she use?

Susan Trinder is the narrator. People called her Sue.

What memory from a theatre performance shapes Sue’s understanding of fear?

She recalls Flora taking her to beg at Oliver Twist, where the violence and crowd reaction leave her gripped by a terror she believes could lead to everyone being killed.

How does Mrs Sucksby respond after Sue is taken to the play?

Mrs Sucksby scolds Flora for taking Sue to such a place, then insists Flora leave the “poke” behind and warns Flora not to bring Sue out again.

Aug 25, 2026

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