---
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title: "The Crimson Petal and the White: A Novel"
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---

# The Crimson Petal and the White: A Novel

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The Crimson Petal and the White: A Novel - Kindle edition by Faber, Michel. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Crimson Petal and the White: A Novel.

Review: Odd Title; Good Read - The title is taken from Tennyson's "The Princess"; a Victorian era epic poem written by a man advocating woman's rights. In some respects I would call the style "Dickens Lite". Many people, not me, find Dickens too prosy or too wordy in his descriptions of Victorian England. This novel gives us the same locations and many of the same sort of characters but with a 20th century writer's sensibilities and word choices. This book is significantly more earthy than Dickens could or would have written and the language is substantially more trenchant. Mr. Farber has a good grasp of his characters and they stay consistent throughout the book which is admittedly more lengthy than many modern readers find comfortable. This is definitely a character driven and not a plot driven book so the reader cannot really expect it to "go anywhere" except into the lives of its characters. I believe it unfolds nicely in bits from the perspective of each of the more or less main characters, interspersed with insights and observations from an omnipresent and all-knowing first person narrator. Main characters include; William Rackham a prig who never quite got past being a "fraternity boy", deludes himself about his talent as a writer, is a possible heir to a manufacturing fortune but lacks either motivation or interest in the business until ...; Agnes Rackham, William's wife who is very "brittle" and a psychologists wet dream, possessed of more issues than Time magazine her mental health issues are organic in nature and greatly exacerbated by the examinations and treatments she is forced to undergo at the hands of the family physician; Henry Rackham, William's brother who aspires to the cloth but is deeply troubled confrontations of the flesh and tormented by the conflagration he believes will engulf him for his impure thoughts and obsession with things "low" and/or sensual; Emmiline Fox, a widow who Henry believes to be possessed of some pulchritude but others find to be quite homely, she is the object of William's base desires but is oblivious to his intentions because she is consumed by her attempts to rescue fallen angels, i.e. prostitutes. Last but by no means least is Sugar, an extremely well read 19 year old prostitute who works out a brothel run by he mother the somewhat terrifying Mrs. Castaway. Sugar's "fame" is based on her willingness to do "anything you desire", when the Fates look down on Sugar they will find her ready for the wand of change to christen her head. Her association with William Rackham changes the lives of every character in the book. The many voices construction may, on its face, seem awkward but Farber pulled it off neatly. I forget the term to describe the device but inside the story we are also treated to passages from the Diary kept by Agnes, the sermons written by Henry and the (graphic) novel being written by Sugar. I always had the feeling that the narrator was pulling my leg just slightly each time it spoke and demonstrated its finely honed sense of sarcasm. Some time ago I saw the mini-series created from this book and the color and tone injected by the narrator was conspicuous by its absence. Do not expect a happy ending. In fact, I expect most readers will find the ending far too ambiguous for their liking. But then, isn't life like that; despite our best efforts its all so ... ambiguous.
Review: A Bawdy Dickensonian Epic With 21st Century Overtones! - Michel Faber's colossal novel, "The Crimson Petal And The White," is of Dickensonian scope and setting, but it delves deeper and more graphically into the down and dirty life of Victorian England than Mr. Dicken's did - thanks to 21st century sensibilities. There is bawdiness galore here, and local color from lowest-brow brothels and pubs to highbrow clubs and ballrooms. The very original cast of characters who accompany the reader through the doors of these places are as varied in class as they are in morality. This epic is chock-full of sizzling sex, prostitution of all variety, horrific poverty, disease and filth, and the epitome of wealth, privilege and luxury. The reader is escorted through the novel, and through London's streets, by a delightful, but always anonymous, narrator - who occasionally reminds us that we are reading a novel. We are taken to meet various people who soon sweep us into the pageant of their lives. One of the most memorable characters is Miss Sugar, patronym unknown. Sugar is a nineteen year old prostitute who has made a name for herself, not only by word of mouth but through the gentlemen's' guide "More Sprees in London - Hints for Men About Town." Sugar is lauded in the publication as undertaking, with zeal, any means and methods to pleasure her clients. She works for her wretched mother, the Madame and owner of Mrs. Castaway's House of Prostitution, and has since her 13th year. Sugar, smart and literate, is utilizing these unappreciated talents to write a dark novel of revenge, at various times entitled: "Scenes From The Streets," "A Cry From The Streets," "An Angry Cry From An Unmarked Grave," "Women Against Men," "Death In The House Of Ill Repute," "Come Kiss The Mouth Of Hell," "The Fall And Rise Of Sugar," etc. - you get the gist. One evening she meets a client who will forever change her destiny. William Rackham, a wealthy perfume magnate, with a noble wife, has been down and out on his luck. He desperately needs some cheering-up. Fortunately he is a subscriber to "More Sprees In London" which leads him to Sugar's open arms. He tells her he longs to be debased and she is eager to serve his every whim. Temporarily, at least, this is a match made in heaven. Both Sugar's and Rackham's stars rise in each other's company. And along the way, we are witness to the rising and falling fortunes of their various friends and family members. Faber paints a vivid portrait of Victorian England. He details the period costumes, manners, food, life on the street and in the drawing room, upstairs and down, the King's English and street cant, the opera and music hall, without slowing the brisk pace of his narrative. The title, "The Crimson Petal And The White," implies the distinction between virtue and immorality. The author has an unusual take on just who his heroes and heroines are. Like Dickens, Thomas Hardy and others, he explores the social hypocrisy and rigidity of the class system and makes some interesting observations about the sexual politics of the time. I thoroughly enjoyed this huge and entertaining read. There is more here than a "beach book." Faber's writing is lush. His dialogue is excellent - very witty, and the research is impeccable. This bold book is destined to be a classic. JANA

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #87,823 in Kindle Store ( See Top 100 in Kindle Store ) #48 in Literary Satire Fiction #65 in Satire #122 in British & Irish Humor & Satire |

## Images

![The Crimson Petal and the White: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81F0qR9yRTL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Odd Title; Good Read
*by D***O on March 14, 2014*

The title is taken from Tennyson's "The Princess"; a Victorian era epic poem written by a man advocating woman's rights. In some respects I would call the style "Dickens Lite". Many people, not me, find Dickens too prosy or too wordy in his descriptions of Victorian England. This novel gives us the same locations and many of the same sort of characters but with a 20th century writer's sensibilities and word choices. This book is significantly more earthy than Dickens could or would have written and the language is substantially more trenchant. Mr. Farber has a good grasp of his characters and they stay consistent throughout the book which is admittedly more lengthy than many modern readers find comfortable. This is definitely a character driven and not a plot driven book so the reader cannot really expect it to "go anywhere" except into the lives of its characters. I believe it unfolds nicely in bits from the perspective of each of the more or less main characters, interspersed with insights and observations from an omnipresent and all-knowing first person narrator. Main characters include; William Rackham a prig who never quite got past being a "fraternity boy", deludes himself about his talent as a writer, is a possible heir to a manufacturing fortune but lacks either motivation or interest in the business until ...; Agnes Rackham, William's wife who is very "brittle" and a psychologists wet dream, possessed of more issues than Time magazine her mental health issues are organic in nature and greatly exacerbated by the examinations and treatments she is forced to undergo at the hands of the family physician; Henry Rackham, William's brother who aspires to the cloth but is deeply troubled confrontations of the flesh and tormented by the conflagration he believes will engulf him for his impure thoughts and obsession with things "low" and/or sensual; Emmiline Fox, a widow who Henry believes to be possessed of some pulchritude but others find to be quite homely, she is the object of William's base desires but is oblivious to his intentions because she is consumed by her attempts to rescue fallen angels, i.e. prostitutes. Last but by no means least is Sugar, an extremely well read 19 year old prostitute who works out a brothel run by he mother the somewhat terrifying Mrs. Castaway. Sugar's "fame" is based on her willingness to do "anything you desire", when the Fates look down on Sugar they will find her ready for the wand of change to christen her head. Her association with William Rackham changes the lives of every character in the book. The many voices construction may, on its face, seem awkward but Farber pulled it off neatly. I forget the term to describe the device but inside the story we are also treated to passages from the Diary kept by Agnes, the sermons written by Henry and the (graphic) novel being written by Sugar. I always had the feeling that the narrator was pulling my leg just slightly each time it spoke and demonstrated its finely honed sense of sarcasm. Some time ago I saw the mini-series created from this book and the color and tone injected by the narrator was conspicuous by its absence. Do not expect a happy ending. In fact, I expect most readers will find the ending far too ambiguous for their liking. But then, isn't life like that; despite our best efforts its all so ... ambiguous.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Bawdy Dickensonian Epic With 21st Century Overtones!
*by J***E on December 1, 2003*

Michel Faber's colossal novel, "The Crimson Petal And The White," is of Dickensonian scope and setting, but it delves deeper and more graphically into the down and dirty life of Victorian England than Mr. Dicken's did - thanks to 21st century sensibilities. There is bawdiness galore here, and local color from lowest-brow brothels and pubs to highbrow clubs and ballrooms. The very original cast of characters who accompany the reader through the doors of these places are as varied in class as they are in morality. This epic is chock-full of sizzling sex, prostitution of all variety, horrific poverty, disease and filth, and the epitome of wealth, privilege and luxury. The reader is escorted through the novel, and through London's streets, by a delightful, but always anonymous, narrator - who occasionally reminds us that we are reading a novel. We are taken to meet various people who soon sweep us into the pageant of their lives. One of the most memorable characters is Miss Sugar, patronym unknown. Sugar is a nineteen year old prostitute who has made a name for herself, not only by word of mouth but through the gentlemen's' guide "More Sprees in London - Hints for Men About Town." Sugar is lauded in the publication as undertaking, with zeal, any means and methods to pleasure her clients. She works for her wretched mother, the Madame and owner of Mrs. Castaway's House of Prostitution, and has since her 13th year. Sugar, smart and literate, is utilizing these unappreciated talents to write a dark novel of revenge, at various times entitled: "Scenes From The Streets," "A Cry From The Streets," "An Angry Cry From An Unmarked Grave," "Women Against Men," "Death In The House Of Ill Repute," "Come Kiss The Mouth Of Hell," "The Fall And Rise Of Sugar," etc. - you get the gist. One evening she meets a client who will forever change her destiny. William Rackham, a wealthy perfume magnate, with a noble wife, has been down and out on his luck. He desperately needs some cheering-up. Fortunately he is a subscriber to "More Sprees In London" which leads him to Sugar's open arms. He tells her he longs to be debased and she is eager to serve his every whim. Temporarily, at least, this is a match made in heaven. Both Sugar's and Rackham's stars rise in each other's company. And along the way, we are witness to the rising and falling fortunes of their various friends and family members. Faber paints a vivid portrait of Victorian England. He details the period costumes, manners, food, life on the street and in the drawing room, upstairs and down, the King's English and street cant, the opera and music hall, without slowing the brisk pace of his narrative. The title, "The Crimson Petal And The White," implies the distinction between virtue and immorality. The author has an unusual take on just who his heroes and heroines are. Like Dickens, Thomas Hardy and others, he explores the social hypocrisy and rigidity of the class system and makes some interesting observations about the sexual politics of the time. I thoroughly enjoyed this huge and entertaining read. There is more here than a "beach book." Faber's writing is lush. His dialogue is excellent - very witty, and the research is impeccable. This bold book is destined to be a classic. JANA

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Various scents encountered in a Victorian bouquet
*by B***B on January 31, 2015*

'The Crimson Petal and the White', in some senses, has similar goals as John Fowles' 'The French Lieutenant's Woman.' Both of them are modern novels that revisit Victorian era England and view it from the lens of the 20th-21st century. Both novels tell us plainly that they are modern novels from the vantage point of the contemporary (at the time of writing) world. Although it's been over 30 years since I read Fowles' novel, I do recall that, while it points out contrasts between the Victorian era and the 20th century and even offers a metafictional choice of endings from which to choose it follows a narrative path that is very much in keeping with one of Thomas Hardy's novels if somewhat more frank in its carnal details. At the outset of 'Crimson Petal..' it is made very clear that we are in the hands of a time-traveling tour guide, as though we're ghosts from the future that can follow undetected into the most intimate chambers of inhabitants of 1870's London. Also, as anyone who has read at least a few reviews of the novel has gathered, it not only has no alternative ending but it has NO conclusive ending. Actually, it does have a definite ending even if loose threads are left loose and we are left wondering about the fates of the characters 'Gone With the Wind' is inconclusive in that, while we know that Rhett Butler has left Scarlett O'Hara, seemingly permanently, we don't know if Scarlet will win him back as she claims on the final page. It is also no surprise that this novel provides a contemporary's depiction of sexual matters that would not have been permitted in any reputable fiction of the Victorian era. We are introduced to a house of prostitution in the slums of 1875 London as well as some of its inhabitants: Caroline, a fallen woman of little education, her younger, yet better educated and professionally adept friend Sugar and Sugar's mother, Mrs. Castaway, the withered madam of the establishment. On the other side of the tracks, we meet William Rackham, the literary son and heir to his father's perfumery. Despite having a wife and young daughter, William is reluctant to seize the reins of responsibility and take charge of the business. He spends many of his evenings in the company of his former classmates, the carousing, witty pair Bodley and Ashwell. The older son Henry, the son to whom the business should reasonably be handed down to, is a pious man who has never been temperamentally suited for business and feels that he would be better suited to God's calling, if he could be certain that God was really calling him, which he is not due to libidinous thoughts of his friend and fellow fundamentalist Emmeline Fox, whose ministry is to rescue fallen woman. Seeking sexual gratification and a way to rescue him from his boring life, William seeks out Sugar, whose reputation for meeting ALL of a man's needs he has heard of from an alternative London guidebook, 'More Sprees in London—Hints for Men About Town, with advice for greenhorns'. When he finally meets her he is smitten, not only because she possesses an almost extrasensory awareness of what will satisfy him but because she is very intelligent and literate and almost as well-read as him. He is not aware that she spends most of her early mornings after a night's work writing a lurid novel of a prostitute's revenge. Her effect on William is spectacular. He floats on air and assumes a new lease on life and finally slips into the role of perfume manufacturer that his father envisioned for him. Soon William buys out her mother's investment in her, installs her in a small apartment closer to the respectable part of town and provides her with free room, board and food as well as a generous allowance, all for being available whenever he comes to call on her. Later this evolves into a position as the live-in governess of his daughter Sophie. Contrasted with William's other life is that of his ailing wife Agnes, often bedridden and afflicted with fits and delusions although periodically able to function in high society. We see her inner struggle through glimpses of the diary she has kept since she was a child. In many respects she has remained a child and, like many women of the time, her fate is controlled first by her stepfather, then her husband. Even motherhood has not altered her self-centered selfishness. She wants nothing to do with her daughter. William is not particularly happy with the current governess and finds a reason to dismiss her and install Sugar in the position. Theoretically, it's an ideal situation. He has his lover installed as a full-time resident and employee of his household and his ailing wife stays in her room and never crosses paths with Sugar, who is busy instructing Sophie. I will say no more other than that the situation quickly becomes much less than ideal. In many respects the narrative direction is a reverse of the governess/employer relationship in 'Jane Eyre.' Henry, although insufferably pious and guilt-ridden, provides an interesting contrast with the narrative of William and Sugar. His own platonic relationship with Emmeline also forms a symmetrical contrast to that of William and Sugar. I was somewhat disappointed that his fate was not entwined with theirs as I thought it would be. Although the novel is set in the Victorian era and the characters are fully embodied products of their age, the prose style is decidedly not Victorian. There is no attempt to mimic the ornamental stylistic flourishes of many of the nineteenth century authors and, despite the novel's great length, the pace of the narrative flows quite swiftly. Faber also succeeds in avoiding predictability of plot. Up until the last thirty pages or so this reader could not second guess the author and feel that he claimed to know with near certainty the outcome for all of the characters. For those who were frustrated with the lack of resolution, Faber published a collection of stories, 'The Apple: Crimson Petal Stories,' which I have purchased and intend to read although my impression is that, while it answers some questions about the fates about some of the characters, it doesn't attempt to tie up many of the loose ends left at the end of 'The Crimson Petal…' For me, the abrupt departure and lack of resolution is utterly authentic and completes the illusion of our journey back in time. Our tour guide has shown us all we need to know of this world and we are deposited at its conclusion safely back into the comfort of our 21st century lives.

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