The Crimson Petal and the White – Michel FaberLess Upstairs, Downstairs than inside the family and out

The 835 pages of The Crimson Petal and the White may look daunting, but embark on the first few chapters and you'll find a gallery of original characters with compelling prose depicting life in and above Victorian London's underworld.

Faber's protagonist is Sugar, a prostitute whose selling-point is her willingness to do anything that men will pay for, including debasing acts that the common whore shies away from. William Rackham, miserable in his marriage to the seraphic, mentally-disturbed Agnes, takes solace in Sugar's dingy bordello. Read more of this post