If you like the movie you absolutely must read the book. I just finished it like an hour ago. It has so much more emotion and is so much darker and just all around better.

This story takes place in England in the 1860s and is told in the voices of two young women whose fates are so complexly interwoven that it takes two separate episodes to relate it.

Susan (played beautifully by Sally Hawkins) tells Part One. She has been raised as an orphan in London by a gang of “Fingersmiths” (grifters). One day a colleague named Gentleman (Rupert Evans) convinces her to assist him in a plot to defraud isolated country heiress Maud Lilly (Elaine Cassidy) of her inheritance. But Susan and Maud grow fond of each other and the scheme threatens to fall apart. Part One ends with a shocking twist, and could almost stand alone as a short feature by itself… but there is more – MUCH more.

In Part Two the story is given over to Maud to explain and conclude. We discover the truth behind the scam being orchestrated by Gentleman. And the relationship between the two young women turns out to be much more complicated than pure physical attraction. There is lots of deceit and plenty of twists and turns on the way to resolution in this three-hour film, plus a wonderfully villianous part for Charles Dance as Maud’s reclusive uncle.

Hats off to director Aisling Walsh and to the BBC for airing this brave film. I may be the only one on the planet who will dare compare it to “The Sting” (Newman/Redford) or “Prizzi’s Honor” (Nicholson/Turner), but I believe it stands up nicely to any con game film out there. See it for sure!