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The Crimson Petal And The White. (Hardcover)

by Michel. Faber (Author) "Watch your step ..." (more)

4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Hardcover: 848 pages
Publisher: Harcourt (Jan 1 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 015100692X
ISBN-13: 978-0151006922
Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.5 x 4.8 cm
Shipping Weight: 1.3 Kg

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Faber's bawdy, brilliant third novel tells an intricate tale of love and ambition and paints a new portrait of Victorian England and its citizens in prose crackling with insight and bravado. Using the wealthy Rackham clan as a focal point for his sprawling, gorgeous epic, Faber, like Dickens or Hardy, explores an era's secrets and social hypocrisy. William Rackham is a restless, rebellious spirit, mistrustful of convention and the demands of his father's perfume business. While spying on his sickly wife's maid, whom he suspects of thievery, he begins a slow slide into depravity: he meets Sugar, a whore whose penetrating mind and love of books intrigues him as much as her beauty and carnal skills do. Faber (Under the Skin) also weaves in the stories of Agnes, William's delicate, mad and manipulative wife, and Henry, his pious, morally conflicted brother, both of whom seek escape from their private prisons through fantasies and small deceptions. Sin and vice both attract and repel the brothers: William, who becomes obsessed with Sugar, rescues her from her old life, while Henry, paralyzed by his love for Emmeline Fox, a comely widow working to rescue the city's prostitutes, slowly unravels. Faber's central characters, especially the troubled William and the ambitious Sugar, shine with life, and the author is no less gifted in capturing the essence of his many minor characters-the evil madam, Mrs. Castaway, and William's pompous father-in-law, Lord Unwin. The superb plot draws on a wealth of research and briskly moves through the lives of each character-whether major or minor, upstairs or downstairs-gathering force until the fates of all are revealed. A marvelous story of erotic love, sin, familial conflicts and class prejudice, this is a deeply entertaining masterwork that will hold readers captive until the final page.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Set in 1870s London, Faber's second novel (after Under the Skin) is a powerful portrayal of a young prostitute named Sugar. Intelligent and ambitious, Sugar yearns to escape from the livelihood forced on her at age 13. Enter William Rackham, a besotted philanderer and idle heir to a family perfume business,who installs Sugar as his secret mistress in a fashionable hideaway. When the incompetent William is forced into managing the family firm, he initially seeks advice from Sugar, who, fearful of losing his affection, schemes to gain closer proximity to the Rackham family. She succeeds by becoming governess to William's only child, young Sophie, who is cruelly ignored by her father and his insane and sickly wife, Agnes. As William's interest in Sugar wanes, she seeks to maintain her position both by earning Sophie's respect and by gaining possession of the intimate diaries that Agnes has foolishly discarded. Faber's mastery of character, evocative descriptions of Victorian England, and rich dialog, together with his weaving of enduring themes throughout a complex plot, creates a remarkable novel. Strongly recommended for most literary and historical fiction collections.
Joseph M. Eagan, Enoch Pratt Free Lib., Baltimore
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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First Sentence
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

22 Reviews

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.0 out of 5 stars (22 customer reviews)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nope....... didn't like it., Jan 10 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Crimson Petal and the White (Hardcover)

Having just (finally) set aside this novel, what leaps to mind is that there is a very fine line between being eloquent and being verbose. This author crosses the line far too often. The book is roughly twice as long as it needed to be... that's 400 pages too long by my account.
It soon became evident that the primary characters were all motivated by either the love of, or hatred for, sex. This was the driving force which propelled their generally miserable lives.There was nothing lyrical or engaging about the sex; it was ever-present and almost always lugubrious.
Obviously I wouldn't recommend the book. There are those who purport to have enjoyed it. Good for them but I cannot think why. All the men or women are corrupt in some fashion. It became preposterous and tiresome. Predicatable ending too.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read, Aug 12 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Crimson Petal And The White (Paperback)

If you like historical fiction, you'll like this book. But by the same token, if you don't, don't worry--there's plenty there to hold your attention. And don't be turned off by the "19th century" novel description--this book is very accesible and more "21st" than "19th." I would also recommend another fantastic read that I've just come across called THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD. Very unusual and shocking.

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Crimson Petal & the White, Jun 22 2003

By	Tamara L. Carr "tamarac661" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was good, though I have to agree with the two main criticisms: a) There was a little too much gritty reality (farting, pooping, the consistency of spunk, etc.), and b) I felt as though the ending totally left me hanging.

The story and the writing style had me hooked, though. I enjoyed this work as a modern take on the Victorian tale. I read it in only five days, which is not an easy task for an 800+ page book. I would recommend this book to those that I feel would appreciate historical fiction, but not to everybody I know. (As I would other books that I loved.)

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Deliciously Scandalous Tale!
Not for the faint of heart, this book brilliantly describes slumming it in 18th century London through the words and stylings of a 21st century writer. Read more

Published on Jul 14 2007 by L

5.0 out of 5 stars One for the book clubs
I wish I had a book club, or at least knew someone else who had read this. I need to talk about it. The first seven-eighths are an intriguing what-happens-next story that you can... Read more

Published on Nov 30 2004 by Brenda Shaw

3.0 out of 5 stars Fairly good, but ultimately bothersome
I had high hopes going into this novel and, for the most part, they were fulfilled. Faber really drew me into the story, and I loved the narrative structure. Read more

Published on Oct 1 2004 by Memory

1.0 out of 5 stars gives one reason to ignore the hoopla of critics
Others have outlined the plot of this novel far better than I can. I abandoned the book after 100 pages. Read more

Published on Jun 25 2004