The Crimson Petal and the White

By: Michel Faber

Narrated by: Jill Tanner

Length: 41 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

NOW A MAJOR BBC DRAMA starring Romola Garai, Chris O'Dowd, Gillian Anderson, Richard E. Grant, Shirley Henderson, and Mark Gatiss.

'Watch your step. Keep your wits about you; you will need them....' So begins this irresistible voyage into the dark side of Victorian London. Amongst an unforgettable cast of low-lifes, physicians, businessmen, and prostitutes, meet our heroine Sugar, a young woman trying to drag herself up from the gutter any way she can. Be prepared for a mesmerising tale of passion, intrigue, ambition, and revenge.

©2011 Michel Faber (P)2011 W.F. Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"A big, sexy, bravura novel...wildly entertaining." (The New York Times)

"Irresistibly readable." (Ruth Rendell)

"Faber is the master of the spine-tingling page-turner, while creating a wholly believable universe." (Dazed and Confused)

Loved this one!

I bought this book because I saw the series and thought the story was enthralling. The reviews, as always, seem to be love it or hate it. I sit in the love it camp. I loved the story, I loved the characters and I loved the narrator. The narrator in particular was wonderful. Both Sugar and Mrs. Fox became my heroines. And it was interesting to get the deep dive which the series didn't allow. It helped me to understand characters like William Rackham better. It gives a window into his drive and how self obsession comes about. It definitely gives a better window into Agnes. It also points out how ridiculous societal thinking can be, as this seemed a particularly warped age for societal standards. And it makes me wonder if the upper class acted much like spoiled children because their childhoods were so marred, creating stunted human beings, who take it out on others and act line children once they come into their adulthood and power. Or in the case of women, not power per se, but the power to be catered to.

I also enjoyed how the author brings us into his confidence at points, explaining how we should forget this character or that, and where to focus ourselves next. He has a really interesting style.

Now, there probably could have and should have been additional editing. There were areas where you got the point but it just kept going back to it. So I suppose that would be the one criticism, but I still enjoyed even the lengthy over explanations and I never got bored with it. I like detail. The language could be coarse, but that was life for people. If I didn't have to live it I can certainly deal with reading it.

Amazing!

I saw the film production of this book first and wanted to also listen to the book! Both were excellent, and what a story! I can't believe I waited so long to see and hear the story!
Excellent narrator!
danyelle-audible addict

Fantastic! … Except for the non-ending.

That a story so detailed, so fascinating, so well-told, so immersive, would stop abruptly with a pointless non-ending was disappointing, to say the least. Hard to believe that the author who had taken such great pains to be so descriptive and well-researched and lengthy would suddenly end the story in a manner that indicates “eh, I’m tired if writing this stuff… the end.”
Except for the non-ending, this book ranks as one the best I have ever encountered. What an engrossing tale!
And, I must add that Jill Tanner’s reading of it is superb. An incredible performance.

Slow beginning but good story

Once you get used to the narrator the story builds nicely. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Is there a next book??

Great book

Any additional comments?

I liked this book. It was very atmospheric and the characters were really well-developed and fun. The main character was real. Everything about the book felt real. I think that's what makes it worth listening to.

I thought the ending was great. It was like a massive cymbal crash at the end of an epic song.

Loved this Book!!

I loved this book SO much and when I read the first review that was written for this book I felt so sorry for waiting to give my opinion. I think that anyone that enjoyed watching "The Duchess of Duke Street" and/or "Upstairs, Downstairs" on PBS would probably like this story as well or more. This is not a book for the squeamish so if you cannot tolerate a certain amount of sex and unpleasantness, don't bother. I was able to keep track of the many characters quite easily, partly because the narrator is so easily understood. Once I started listening, I was so hooked! I finished this almost 42 hour book in just 10 days and wished it was longer. The ending was excellent. It was a bargain for just one credit. (Editor NOT needed, thank you very much).

Disappointing, unappealing characters

What did you like best about The Crimson Petal and the White? What did you like least?

I generally am very fond of historical fiction. It was clear the author had done her research. She chose to write about the seamy underbelly of Victorian England, and portrayed it very well. But I also prefer books with characters who are sympathetic. They don't have to be perfect (in fact, perfect characters are usually annoying) but there has to be somewhere I can connect, on an emotional level, with the people the story is about. I didn't like any of the characters in Faber's book, so by the (extremely unsatisfying and inconclusive) end, I didn't really care what happened to any of them.

What could Michel Faber have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I found the author's use of the present tense in the narrative voice distracting and affected. I also hated the "dear reader" style interjections into the narrative. I could see that the author might have been trying to evoke a Victorian prose style, but again, it just didn't work for me. A straightforward, omniscient narrative voice, in the past tense would have helped -- though with such a dearth of sympathetic characters, even that wouldn't have saved it for me.

Which character – as performed by Jill Tanner – was your favorite?

I liked none of the characters. The least detestable were Henry and Emmaline Fox, but even they were not sympathetically portrayed. I thought the narrator did a decent job with the material -- at least, her characters were relatively easy to tell apart, and not annoyingly affected (I do hate it when narrators use inappropriate regional accents to differentiate characters -- especially when the people are members of the same family -- and Tanner doesn't do that...)

Did The Crimson Petal and the White inspire you to do anything?

I did plow through to the end. But that's fairly faint praise. I don't have any desire to seek out the television version, nor to read the next book in the saga (if one is ever written).

Excellent audio book!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I have actually recommended this audio book. I listened to it every day during a tough commute to work, but found myself sneaking away to see what happened to Sugar next...

What did you like best about this story?

The author did a splendid job of bringing humanity to the central character, Sugar.

What does Jill Tanner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narrator was simply perfect for this book. She had a smooth, engaging voice, with a most suitable British accent.

Any additional comments?

I was completely captivated with this entire audio book (a long one!), but I found the ending disappointing. In a way, I can understand why it ended the way it did, but I think I'd rather have known more about where and how certain characters ended up.

The ending....arghhhhh

I wish there had been some closure. It was an interesting book and the writing style was fun.

Well written but OMG

This story is so well written, beautifully narrated, interesting and unique prose. I can honestly say you will never no the direction of the story is taken there is not a predictable moment.