Book summary

The panoramic novel takes place in the 1870s, and focuses on a writer named William Rackham who is married to the sickly, depressed Agnes but is so enamored of a prostitute named Sugar that he hires her as governess for his daughter. Around these characters, the tumult of Victorian London is revealed as the story spirals into a tale of ambition, love, and revenge. A New York Times Notable Book for 2002.

Media reviews

"Michael Faber's previous work....was certain ambitious and accomplished, but nothing could have prepared his readers for the sweep and subtlety of THE CRIMSON PETAL AND THE WHITE....Faber's is an immensely difficult project, and to carry it off he returns to the self-conscious reforming zeal, the bracing ethical assurance, the heartbreaking generosity and the sly rhetorical tricks of the great Victorian novelists. Like them, Faber and his glorious teenage heroine...confront an empty and befouled world armed with nothing more than wit, determination and a good heart. And, to our satisfaction, they win."