The Crimson Petal and the White

By: Michel Faber

Narrated by: Jill Tanner

NOW A MAJOR BBC DRAMA starring Romola Garai, Chris O'Dowd, Gillian Anderson, Richard E. Grant, Shirley Henderson, and Mark Gatiss.

'Watch your step. Keep your wits about you; you will need them....' So begins this irresistible voyage into the dark side of Victorian London. Amongst an unforgettable cast of low-lifes, physicians, businessmen, and prostitutes, meet our heroine Sugar, a young woman trying to drag herself up from the gutter any way she can. Be prepared for a mesmerising tale of passion, intrigue, ambition, and revenge.

©2011 Michel Faber (P)2011 W.F. Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"A big, sexy, bravura novel...wildly entertaining." (The New York Times)

"Irresistibly readable." (Ruth Rendell)

"Faber is the master of the spine-tingling page-turner, while creating a wholly believable universe." (Dazed and Confused)

Can't Put It Down

While I freely admit, I am not finished with this book......not even finished with part one of the five, I have to say I LOVE IT. I wanted to counter the few less than stellar reviews given by previous reviewers. Yes, it is rather long-winded and probably could have used a more scissor-happy editor; however, this is one thing I love about the book. The author is indeed verbose, using many words to describe people, places, and things, but this has always helped me to more easily visualize settings and characters. I detest authors who are skimpy with descriptors (I guess I just don't have a vivid enough imagination). This author is excellent and I will be looking forward to more from her.

Believe it or not, the characters come across as likeable (more or less), even when they are obviously toffee-nosed snobs. The book is definitely adult. If you are squeamish about sex, coarse language, and the seedier side of life, do give it a miss. BUT if you, as well as I, enjoy reading about lives lived completely differently than your own, buy it. You just might find yourself being transported to a different place and time. And you WON'T want to leave. I actually can't wait to finish this review so I can turn on my iPod again to be sent back to London, circa 1874. I'm anxious to see how Sugar is getting along; how William will manage his serious "issues", and to meet the other interesting and complex characters created by Ms. Faber.

Apparently this book has been made into a major BBC drama now starring Romola Garai, a terrific, young, English actress. I'd love to see it sometime. It'd be interesting to see how they "clean it up" for airing on public television.

Good writing, unlikeable characters

The author describes Victorian London and Victorian life with great detail that must have taken a great deal of research. The way people dressed and lived, even the lives of prostitutes and businessmen, are described in eloquent language that engaged me. The story was interesting and unique, and I listened to the entire thing. My main problem is my own wish for one character to really like. Sugar, the main character, was forced into prostitution as a child by her mother, and she wants to be a writer. Her stories' main theme was revenge on men--she killed them off in gruesome ways. She falls in love, or allows herself to be loved, by a wealthy man whose wife is mentally ill and who completely neglects his young child by that wife. He removes Sugar from the brothel and installs her as his concubine because he wants her all to himself. The main character becomes more and more entwined in his life, hoping to somehow raise herself into a higher class. In the end, he is no better than any of the other men in her life, and she then manages to get great revenge on him and flee, but the story ends there and we don't know what really becomes of her.. By this time she has become someone that I could not root for, and all of the other characters are twisted and revolting as well. I think the author tries to say that all women were demeaned by that society, and perhaps all men were as well. There seems to be a fad among modern authors now to revisit Victorian England and explore its facets that were not discussed during that era--perversions, homosexuality, moral dishonesty, child exploitation, degradation of women. I think that is fine, but I am still so old-fashioned that I want one character that I admire and applaud, and I didn't find that character. Perhaps you will enjoy this story more than I did.

Jane Austen's England never sounded like this!!!

It was a brilliant historical fiction novel describing the underbelly world of London in the 1870's. Few novell I have read have the courage to describe the hidden world of London beyond St James, Hyde Park and Whitehall. As an avid Jane Austen fan, I could not help thinking that this is how she would have written about her own time if propriety had allowed her to do so.

A bit raunchy but so gripping

I loved the narrator. The editing wasn't perfect but the narrator was so good as to make up for it. The story was intriguing and in a style that left you wanting more with every sentence, every chapter. Truly enjoyed this story of prostitutes and wealthy men in a time when money was right and no matter what women had basically no rights.

needs a sequel

A wonderful book...but the ending is so unsatisfactory... In fact, there is no ending at all - there is an abrupt stop - it actually made me mad and wanting. Listen anyway - it is a masterpiece.