The Crimson Petal and the White

Posted Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Actual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Crimson Petal and the White is a truly immense story, not just due to the size of the novel, but because of the world that is built by Michel Faber. Faber is unique in his presentation of the world of Sugar and William Rackham; we are brought to our subjects in a round about manner through the dregs and lows of the society and from there we climb to the top of the social ladder. I had never experienced world building in such a manner previously and I haven’t experienced it since, it is a facet of the novel that stuck with me due to its sheer unique portrayal of ensuring the reader has an overall understanding of the world they are to be a part of. Faber presents Victorian London in a more realistic fashion rather than the glorified painted over idealistic time seen done by others previously. The realism, the faults, they are all presented and it allows for a more believable story…you can imagine that the story of Sugar and William Rackham truly did occur and you are reading their biography rather than a work of fiction.

Sugar was a character I could identify with - she was a writer, bookish, and housed an intelligence that was, and still can be, seen as unattractive in women. Yet in spite of that, she was able to utilize those very same hated characteristics to become an incredibly successful prostitute. Perhaps these characteristics were only seemingly unattractive when they were wielded by wives and mothers? Regardless, these traits were to her overall advantage in her social rise at the hands of William Rackham.

In some ways, I sympathized with the character of William Rackham because he had no want or desire to be the heir to his father’s perfume business, instead wanting to be a writer much like Sugar is working to be. You can then understand some of his seeming desire for Sugar because in some ways, she is everything he wishes he could be. However, at the same time I had these sympathies for Rackham there was also this sense of great disdain because of his issues with jealousy and his air of being above everyone he came in to contact with, especially later in the novel. He treated Sugar as if she were simply a means to an end rather than as an actual human being, yet this isn't so outside the realm of the reasonable possibility because Victorian London truly had very little respect for women except in the relations they had to men, i.e. mother/sister/wife/daughter, or servants/whores and nothing more.

I admit that the ending truly threw me for a loop because it wasn't what I was expecting at all. I felt that Sugar truly showed Rackham that even the most mighty can fall and end up completely alone in the world, that being or feeling alone in the world isn't just reserved for those who are part of the lowest rungs of the social ladder. Rather, Sugar goes about releasing Agnes from her seeming imprisonment as the mad wife in the attic and shows true tenderness and care towards Sophie through their own departure.

Overall, this story was well done and I thoroughly enjoy reading it each and every time I have done so regardless how how many times I have read it in the past.

Originally posted on my Tumblr.