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The Crimson Petal and the White
London, 1870s. At the heart of this panoramic narrative is a young woman's struggle to lift her body and soul out of the gutter. Sugar, a nineteen-year-old whore in the brothel of the terrifying Mrs. Castaway, yearns for a better life. Her ascent through the strata of Victorian society begins with the egotistical perfume magnate William Rackham. Infatuated with Sugar, William's patronage brings her into the circles of his family and milieu: his wife who barely overcomes chronic hysteria to make her appearances during "the Season"; his mysteriously hidden-away daughter, left to the care of minions; his pious brother, foiled in his devotional calling by his lust for the Widow Fox; as well as preening socialites, drunken journalists, untrustworthy servants, vile guttersnipes, and whores of all stripes and persuasions.
Twenty years in its conception, research, and writing, The Crimson Petal and the White is teeming with life, rich in texture and incident, with breathtakingly real characters.
"Cocky and brilliant, amused and angry, [Faber] is rightfully earning comparisons to observer extraordinaire Charles Dickens. . . . It's hopeless to resist" (Entertainment Weekly).
Book Details
- Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
- Publish Date: Sep 1st, 2003
- Pages: 928
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 8.00in - 5.20in - 1.70in - 1.55lb
- EAN: 9780156028776
- Categories: • Historical - Renaissance• Literary• Classics
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About the Author
Michel Faber's work has been published in twenty countries and received several literary awards. He lives in Scotland.
More books by Michel Faber
What people are saying
Shadow Judge for The Sunday Times Young Writer Of The Year Award 2018. Book Blogger Of The Year 2020 for NB Magazine bookishchat@gmail.com 🇬🇧
@damfino1895 The Crimson Petal And The White by Michel Faber is my favourite book of all time.
Networking readers, one book and quote at a time.
RT @isawien7 finished The Crimson Petal And The White by Michel Faber http://t.co/g93mPcwtjZ
Writer of Weird Things WriteRadio, Twisted Fairy Tales Vol. 1, Horrified Magazine Find my non-fiction in DRANG: A Magazine of Arts and Culture
Currently reading Michel Faber's metamodern historical The Crimson Petal and the White. Interesting ideas abound, and I am enjoying the experience of being pulled around by the lapels with an instistant narrator.
Praise for this book
PRAISE FOR UNDER THE SKIN
"Michel Faber is a strong, moral voice, and this first novel promises great things for the future."--The Wall Street Journal
"A fascinating book . . . The fantastic is so nicely played against the day-to-day that one feels the strangeness of both. . . . Remarkable."--The New York Times Book Review
"An extraordinary book that touches on the most profound issues of the human condition."--The Times (London)
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