The Crimson Petal and the White (2002)

That ending....I guess after 800 plus pages he just got tired of writing. It literally felt like he just ran out of ideas...so he departed. Twenty years to research and write...he was done!

Four stars because it was a great read, well researched, authentic and graphic, there was no sugar coating anything, this was life in the 1800's for prostitutes...emphasized class differences, medical views on mental health, the limited choices women had in their lives...but that ending. ( )

Meet Sugar, a nineteen-year-old prostitute in Victorian London who yearns for escape to a better life. From the brothel of the terrifying Mrs. Castaway, she begins her ascent through society. Beginning with William Rackham, a perfume magnate whose lust for Sugar soon begins to smell like love, she meets a host of lovable, maddening, unforgettable characters as her social rise is overseen by assorted preening socialites, drunken journalists, untrustworthy servants, vile guttersnipes, and whores of all kinds.

This is the story fo the well-read London prostitute named Sugar, who believes she can make a better life for herself. You read about the physical practicalities that a prostitute has to deal with - who protects them, what acts they have to perform, the degredations they have to accept (you learn for instance, what they have to endure in an attempt to avoid pregnancy).

Prostitution, rather than frowned upon in all levels of society, is indulged in by many of the wealthy/upper class men by the famous-but-secret publications highlighting where the brothels are, and giving establishments and individuals ratings as to the services provided.

When she is taken up by a wealthy man, the perfumer William Rackham, her wings are clipped and she must balance financial security against the obvious servitude of her position. The physical risks and hardships of Sugar's life (and the even harder "honest" life she would have led as a factory worker) contrast--yet not entirely--with the medical mistreatment of her benefactor's wife, Agnes. Agnes is mollycoddled and allowed to descend into clinical madness and death, all aggravated by the birth of a daughter.

Even though my edition came in at just under 1000 pages, I have to admit it came too soon for me (and many others, but not all apparently). In fact, after releasing it as a Bookcrossing book, this is one of the few books where I brought a second copy! ( )

Ondergang en opkomst van Sugar, zo zou deze turf ook wel kunnen heten. Sugar, een hoertje in het Victoriaanse Londen, klimt langzaam op langs de sociale ladder dankzij haar bereidheid om een man alles, maar dan ook alles te bieden wat hij verlangt. De ultieme jongensfantasie dus en terwijl je de wendingen van het verhaal volgt, vraag je je wel eens af of de auteur die fantasie niet wat te veel zijn loop gaan. Alsof iemand zo maar ongemerkt en ongestraft trede na trede kan beklimmen in die strenge, Britse standenmaatschappij. Maar Faber heeft zijn weerhaakjes zorgvuldig gepland. Net als het verhaal de ultieme smartlap dreigt te worden, verkoopt Faber je een oplawaai tegen je gezicht waar je even niet goed van bent en die je eigenlijk had moeten zien aankomen. Ondertussen heb je meer dan achthonderd pagina's achter de kiezen en die hebben geen moment verveeld.

Oh, en je als je je afvraagt hoe het verder gaat, na het einde? Ik denk dat je dat eigenlijk niet wilt weten. ( )

Great except for the non-existent ending. It just stopped!

Interesting approach using the concept of walking the streets of 1870s London and meeting various characters that will play a part in the story. Gave a lot of info about living both poor and wealthy in that time period but the book was way too long for me. Enjoyed Sugar as the prostitute and her way of looking at life, trying to make things better for herself yet disappointed me when she did not help those of her former life later on. Thought William was becoming a better person but he really let me down at the end. Never understood his wife. ( )