The Crimson Petal and the White

“You have not been here before. You may imagine, from other stories you've read, that you know it well, but those stories flattered you, welcoming you as a friend, treating you as if you belonged. The truth is that you are an alien from another time and another place altogether.”

From the opening lines of the book the narrator takes us in hand as we explore 19th century London. We are following the ascendency of one of her prostitutes by the name of Sugar who finds a sugardaddy(!) in the guise of William Rackham, heir to the Rackham perfume fortune.

This is a huge read that devotes its languorous attention on issues of class, the roles of women in Victorian England specifically prostitutes (at the time there were apparently 1 prostitute for every 12 men), sexual disfunction, thwarted ambition, mercurial circumstance and writerly ambition. I enjoyed the writing and happily settled in for the long haul, content to let Faber lead me through the book.

Without saying anything about it, the ending knocks a star off an otherwise 4 star read.