Tipping the Velvet
From Wikipedia:
Tipping the Velvet is an historical novel written by Sarah Waters published in 1998. Set in Victorian England during the 1890s, it tells a coming of age story about a young woman named Nan who falls in love with a male impersonator, follows her to London, and finds various ways to support herself as she journeys through the city. [...]
The novel has pervasive lesbian themes, concentrating on eroticism and self-discovery. [...] As opposed to previous lesbian-themed fiction she had read where the characters escape an oppressive society to live apart from it, Waters chose characters who interact with their surroundings. She has acknowledged that the book imagines a lesbian presence and history in Victorian London where none was recorded. The main character's experiences in the theatrical profession and her perpetual motion through the city allow her to make observations on social conditions while exploring the issues of gender, sexism, and class difference.
[...] The novel was adapted into a somewhat controversial three-part series of the same name produced and broadcast by the BBC in 2002.
I loved both the book and the BBC series, although I didn't like the changes they made in the third episode of the latter. Nan's character was so well portrayed - what I liked best of the story is that I could never guess where she would end up next. Such twists of fate! I was surprised to see Miss Bingley as Diane, but even more surprised to see who played Freddy, Nan's beau at the very beginning:
He looks so happily OOC, doesn't he? He kisses her, and they spoon together by the sea, but soon her attention will be stolen by another woman. He seems destined to get involved with the gay ones...