The Crimson Petal and the White

Every time I travel I take advantage of my free time and get back into the reading habit.  Unfortunately, I also underestimate how much I can read in that time.  Which usually leaves me half way through the week without a book.  This time my best friend searched his shelves for something for me to read.  I turned down the first couple but then settled on an enormous book.

The Crimson Petal and the White, by Michel Faber is an interesting 900 page adventure which takes place in the underbelly of Victorian era England.  There are three story lines that eventually run all together.  Sugar the smart and unusual prostitute who is writing her own novel.  William Rackham, a heir to a perfume business and his mentally ill wife Agnes.  Lastly, is the story of the pious brother Henry Rackham and the widow he loves Emmeline Fox.

The book does start in an unusual way, Faber speaks directly to you and has you follow smaller characters to set the tone.  Eventually you are introduced to Sugar and William, each of who are living in different strata of England.   William is a down-trodden, broken-down man, who is just looking for someone to give him the support he needs to take over the company he never wanted and to merely survive his life with his ailing wife.  This is where Sugar the scaly skinned prostitute with mind of  a man begins to change everything.

I can't quite explain why I loved this book, but I could not put it down.  Every character changes over the course of the story.  Sugar is one of the most identifiable characters and she makes you want to root for her even though she is not the protagonist that you would expect to support.

I would tell more but then your journey would not be what Michel Faber would have wanted.  If you have the time to read the voluminous pages you will enjoy this period piece.