I remember watching the BBC adaptation of The Crimson Petal And The White and being amazed by the tale of London at its most powerful era; The Victorian period. From then on, I knew I had to read Michel Faber’s 2002 novel, but it would take me eight years to find a decently priced second-hand copy before being able to dive into a world that almost felt like a fantasy.
The first time I read The Crimson Petal and The White it was like falling head-first into a rabbit hole and landing in London in the year 1875. I frantically chased the narrator through a labyrinth, from the polluted slums of Church Lane to the elegant Notting Hill. The mysterious narrator wasted no time telling me to watch my step, keep my wits and ordering me to forget everything I had ever presumed about London,187 as they led me through the forgotten streets of London.
I felt rushed as I did my best to catch up through the busy crowds and bustling street markets. There was no warm when I’m introduced to the main character; the enigmatic 19-year-old prostitute, Sugar who works at the brothel owned by her mother Mrs Castaway. Sugar attracts you to her because of a strange skin condition leaving her lips flaking, her tiger-striped markings and her golden-red hair. She’s popular with the men of London for never saying no to anything and for her intellectual conversations. But inside Sugar lurks a deep hatred to the men who use her, and she spends most of her days writing violent fantasies about her exacting revenge on the men who used her. Sugar hopes this novel will one day be her ticket out of the brothel and away from Mrs Castaways for good.
But unknown to her, William Rackham is just around the corner. He is the reluctant heir to the Rackham Soaps Industry and husband to the mentally fragile Agnes. His father has cut off his allowance until he picks up the reins to family business. When William meets Sugar, she enchants him straightaway and he’ll do anything possible to have her all to himself. But other complex and interesting characters dwarf him, and it is him we must follow to meet them all.
I had far more interest in William’s brother Henry, the polar-opposite of him in everyway and the charitable Mrs Fox. Their bittersweet love-story is a joy to read but is thwart with repressed sexual desires. And hidden away in the Rackhams mansion is Mrs Agnes Rackham, who’s seeking to redeem herself in London’s high society, but must fight her demons to do so. Then there's Sophie Rackham, the six-year-old child locked away and whose existence goes unnoticed by the rest of the world; especially her parents.
The Crimson Petal is like no other book I have ever read. It’s a book that had me hooked from start to finish and as exhilarating as a rollercoaster whipping me through time. Faber does a fantastic job fleshing out this forgotten world by bringing all five senses alive, whether it’s at the Rackhams lavender fields or a slimy back-alley in Church lane, Sugar and William will take you on a journey unlike any other.
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