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.
"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."
New York Times Book Review - James R. Kincaid (09/15/2002)
"I don't know when I've read a novel that divided my sympathies as much as this one does, engaging me on a narrative level while at the same time leaving me asking, 'And? And?' There's no doubt that THE CRIMSON PETAL AND THE WHITE is an achievement or that Faber is an ambitious and talented writer. The book is a compelling perversity: a long, detailed Victorian novel from someone who doesn't appear to like Victorian novels, who distrusts everything that would make a reader want to pick up THE CRIMSON PETAL AND THE WHITE to begin with."
Salon - Charles Taylor (10/21/2002)
"Over 800 pages long, this novel is impressive for the unflagging energy with which it covers stage after stage of a marathon in which it all too deliberately competes with the shades of Dickens and Wilkie Collins. It is also impressive for the candour, denied to those two master storytellers, with which it illuminates the dark, dangerous world of Victorian sexuality. As if flourishing a banner inscribed 'Let copulation thrive!', Michael Faber acts as enthusiastic, clarion-voiced guide through a vast peep show in which every aspect of human cruelty, degradation and criminality is on display."
Literary Review - Francis King (10/01/2002)
"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."
New York Times Book Review - James R. Kincaid (09/15/2002)
"I don't know when I've read a novel that divided my sympathies as much as this one does, engaging me on a narrative level while at the same time leaving me asking, 'And? And?' There's no doubt that THE CRIMSON PETAL AND THE WHITE is an achievement or that Faber is an ambitious and talented writer. The book is a compelling perversity: a long, detailed Victorian novel from someone who doesn't appear to like Victorian novels, who distrusts everything that would make a reader want to pick up THE CRIMSON PETAL AND THE WHITE to begin with."
Salon - Charles Taylor (10/21/2002)
"Over 800 pages long, this novel is impressive for the unflagging energy with which it covers stage after stage of a marathon in which it all too deliberately competes with the shades of Dickens and Wilkie Collins. It is also impressive for the candour, denied to those two master storytellers, with which it illuminates the dark, dangerous world of Victorian sexuality. As if flourishing a banner inscribed 'Let copulation thrive!', Michael Faber acts as enthusiastic, clarion-voiced guide through a vast peep show in which every aspect of human cruelty, degradation and criminality is on display."
Literary Review - Francis King (10/01/2002)
Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
