In a book club and starting to plan your reads for next year? Check out our 2025 picks.

What readers think of The Crimson Petal and The White, plus links to write your own review.

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

The Crimson Petal and The White by Michel Faber

The Crimson Petal and The White

by Michel Faber
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • First Published:
  • Sep 1, 2002, 848 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Sep 2003, 944 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About This Book

Reviews

Page 1 of 4
There are currently 28 reader reviews for The Crimson Petal and The White
Order Reviews by:

Write your own review!

maggie

a matter of deduction
I enjoyed every word of the book but I too was taken aback at the abrupt ending. But now I think that if the author is as good as he seems to be, then the ending was foreshadowed throughout the book and we should have enough clues to figure out what is next. Sugar promises Sophie 'the nicest softest bed' after a 'very long journey'..........now I have to go back and find a reference somewhere in the middle of the book about a trans-atlantic passage. Maybe she is going to America where she can be more liberated?
chris lyle

the crmson petal the white
Excellent, compelling, loved the historical aspect and the characters. The ending was frustrating - I wanted to find out more, but it was the right ending for the book
MONI80

DEDICATED READERS ONLY!
I recently finished this book and must say I really enjoyed it form the descriptive and vulgar portrayal of victorian London streets and smells to the vivid and crude glimpse of seventeenth century 'fallen women' (my favorite character was Caroline) to the gradual and sad decline of Agnes. I really felt all the characters as they were so well drawn and my only qualm is the significance of the pious brother Henry and as he was of no significance. I must also admit as other reviewers have that the ending does leave you wanting more and leaves you alittle disappointed-but after careful reflection I have decided that the engrossing and well-written story you receive before the abrupt ending more than make up for it. So in closing this book is a treasure and despite the loose ends you will leave feeling enlightened, educated and fulfilled but remember it is only for dedicated readers only.....
southernladybug

I enjoyed this book immensely! Not only was it stunningly written and beautifully detailed, it managed to be erotic, saddening, and horrifying all at once. Erotic is self-explanatory, as you can easily tell if you have read it. It captured the sadness under Sugar's grit and endurance, and is horrifying in the detailed (and accurate) portrayal of the streets and brothels of Victorian cities everywhere. A caution to any parents with young but avid readers in your household: while this is a compelling read and impossible to put down, I would not recommend allowing anyone under the age of 17 or 18 to read this novel...and if you do make sure their high school teachers don't catch them with it! All in all, cautions considered, I highly recommend this book to anyone. I only had one problem with it...lack of sleep from not being able to put it down!!!!!
Pamela

I think this is one of the best books I have ever read. Couldn't put it down. A great book from start to finish. Good insight into how Victorian life might be. Hurry up with the sequel!!!
Ania

I have been up all night because I couldn't put this book down! And now that I have finished I am left wanting more, more, MORE ...!!!
Rachel

Truly a fantastic book. It absolutely sucked me in. A little shaky in the beginning, but hang in there; these people will become a part of your family. I am so sad to finish the book. GIVE US A SEQUEL MR. FABER!!
joshua vigil

If you have any love whatsoever for the sprawling epic masterpieces of Dickens, Thackeray, Eliot, and Hardy, you really must put any book you're currently reading down and read "The Crimson Petal." The notion--by some of my fellow reviewers--that the book is too long is precisely the reason I found it captivating...Indeed, most contemporary books are so in love with their own postmodernity that they often run out of narrative momentum within the first 200 pages. Not so here; the book immerses its reader within a voyeuristic and explicit London whose characters literally reek of sex, stench, and desperation. I longed for the novel to continue, and I think others will as well. This is a one of a kind book--I highly recommend reading it before it has been gutted for the inevitable Hollywood sendup.

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket
    The House of Doors
    by Tan Twan Eng
    Every July, I take on the overly ambitious goal of reading all of the novels chosen as longlist ...
  • Book Jacket: The Puzzle Box
    The Puzzle Box
    by Danielle Trussoni
    During the tumultuous last days of the Tokugawa shogunate, a 17-year-old emperor known as Meiji ...
  • Book Jacket
    Something, Not Nothing
    by Sarah Leavitt
    In 2020, after a lifetime of struggling with increasingly ill health, Sarah Leavitt's partner, ...
  • Book Jacket
    A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens
    by Raul Palma
    Raul Palma's debut novel A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens introduces Hugo Contreras, who came to the ...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

H I O the G

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.