Rating: 
Summary: victorian splendor!
Review: I picked up this book without any specific expectations of what it would be, and was splendidly suprised. Unlike many of the others who have reviewed this book, I have to say that I thought the ending was perfect, and I would have been disappointed by any other ending; a happy ending would not suit everything that preceded it, and a sad ending would be too heartbreaking to bear. What else was he to do?
This story follows "The Life & Times of Sugar," a 19-year-old prostitute, as she transitions from a street prostitute to a "kept" woman, and finally, to a governess. The cast of characters, and the subplots they are involved in, are somewhat complex. But, Farber spends as much time fleshing out the secondary characters as he does the protagonist, which helps keep the reader engaged.
I love historical fiction, especially when it's so well-written that it draws the reader into the time and space being written about. In The Crimson Petal & The White, Michael Farber creates & literally (via the narrator)invites the reader to step into Victorian London, painting a three dimensional scene that contains both the bright, embellished locales of the Upper class and the brutal and filthy streets of the Lower class.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertained, befuddled and sadly disappointed
Review: A wonderfully written, swift-paced, emotionally and historically authentic novel...all the more reason to be crushed when the flawed and very human characters are left wandering London, with the reader knowing not what's to become of them. I have just completed this novel, which I regarded at times as a guilty pleasure (high pleasure!) and at others as a true piece of literature to be savored. My intellect believes there are layers of meaning to be unfolded, yet my emotion needs to know that the betrayals and tortures suffered by the characters are ultimately salved in some way. No such luck with this book. I fell in love with the characters, so much so that my anger at William was as much disappointment and disgust at his failing to grab hold of the courage that always dangled in front of his face. For Sugar, I was anxious and heartbroken for her for the entire final third of the book. I found myself alternating between a silly hope that she and William would find affection with each other, and a stronger desire to see her victorious over all subservience and need of him. (...) My conclusion at this point is that as equally as Faber served up a thoroughly enjoyable, intelligent story, so did he betray the reader whom he entranced. (...) But on first impact, this one stings.
Rating: 
Summary: Muddled and Confused
Review: I'm positively torn as to how to write this review. Should I spend pages disparaging the arrogant use of second person and blatantly smug ending? Or should I try to hail the merits the author has in creating wonderful writing and believable, flawed characters (and then abruptly ruining them with completely uncharacteristic thoughts and actions)?I don't know. I think I can tentatively say, after reading the novel in no more than two days, that I disliked it. I very much enjoyed aspects of it. Sugar was beautiful until she started acting weak and ladylike. William was an idiot throughout. Agnes was infuriating and the character for whom I felt the most sympathy, though she belonged in a hospital long ago. What is there to say? It was long, but easy to read. It was dull, but fascinating. It embodied no real contradictions, merely a plethora of implausibility. I would have liked to know some of what was going on - I'm not asking for a perfectly packaged ending, just something more than a whoops, I felt like stopping here so no more story! Take it or leave it. Overall, the book suffered from its sense of self-importance, much the same way the trash Sugar wrote suffered. If only a little more.. something.. had been part of it, I could have accepted it as worthy.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh please.....
Review: If you see it in the bookstore, just walk the other way. I kept reading on and on, thinking surely this will get better. It doesn't. It's a mediocre story desperately in need of editing, filled with unlikeable characters. The ending was abrupt & unfulfilling. Wasn't worth all the time I unfortunately spent with it.
Rating:
Summary: READ WITH AN OPEN MIND
Review: Before I bought this book, I read the online reviews which suprisingly enough were very mixed. I have not finished reading the book yet but felt compelled to write a review because after reading this book and reading some of the reviews, I had to disagree with some of the negative reviews. One of the unique things about the book is how the author narrates the book. While one reviewer commented that the author was arrogant in doing this and that the author was making us (the readers) look stupid, I got no such impression. Part of what makes writing so beautiful is that it allows an author to express his view in any shape, way or form. I am sure that the author did not narrate the book in this way to make his public feel "stupid" but to tell this story in a distinct way. This book covers many sordid subject such as poverty, prostitution, madness (to name a few) so I am not surprised that many of the reviewers are disgusted by the detail found in this book but I found the author's attention to detail to make his book even more engrossing. I mean, you don't have to like everything you read. You have to keep an open mind when reading books such as this one and appreciate the detail that author is trying to convey. As for those readers who have been upset with the ending of this book, I personally find that books that wrap up too neatly leaving me feeling satisfied but only for a moment. Books that have an unexpected ending leave me thinking about the book long after I have started another one. One must admire an author that can get so many to express a multitude of different emotions regarding one book. I can't wait to finish the book even if the ending is not what I expect. I won't be disappointed because so far the book has kept me interested which is more than I can say for some other books on the market.
Rating: 
Summary: Just Okay
Review: I have never written a review before, but I felt compelled to for this book only because it requires such a huge time commitment. I was looking for a nice, fat novel to read, and so when I spotted this huge tome I was pleased, even though I wasn't sure if I would really be that interested in it. After reading the first few pages, I was intrigued, but not necessarily completely pulled in. Torn, I decided to purchase the book anyway.
My initial attitude toward the book never changed throughout my reading of it. Although I was interested enough to keep reading, there isn't really much of a plot to speak of, and what there is just seems to drag on unnecessarily (Agnes' "episodes" for example, I often thought "just get on with it!") The reader becomes intimately acquainted with a few characters, at least enough to care about them, only to ultimately not be told their fate...did the episode with Henry and Emmeline actually happen, or did Henry imagine it? Too many unanswered questions for me, but this was obviously the author's intention.
Overall, a lush and decent book if you enjoy Victorian-era novels, but I found it unsatisfying.
Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: I found this book on the best sellers list and picked it up right after my first trip to London. Wow! I really enjoyed the story and characters. There is some very interesting characeter development and the scenery that is set is great. I would recommend this book!
Rating:
Summary: Mr. Faber, You can do so much more!
Review: The book held my interest because the author has a gifted imagination. However, because he is so gifted and so very imaginative, why in the world couldn't he make something more of this? Basically it is about Sugar's thoughts. Well, how long can that last? He could have done so much more, i.e, introducing her to many other interesting (bizarre) characters along her way and making this a much more adventurous novel. Mr. Faber has it in him, and I am still waiting for it all to come out. Waiting, Mr. Faber, for that splendid adventurous novel that you still have within you with all its ingenious and whimsical details ready to be devoured by your readers.
Rating:
Summary: I don't get it....
Review: I received Michael Faber's The Crimson Petal and The White for Christmas. With all the positive reviews, I was looking forward to a great read. Was I ever disappointed! All I can say is that I guess I just don't get it. After 830+ pages, I don't see what so many readers are raving about. Crimson Petal is being touted as a 21st Century Victorian novel. We follow the lives of perfume heir, William Rackhan, and a prostitute named Sugar. The characters are all terribly unsympathetic. William turns out to be a cad, and Sugar is less admirable than we are lead to believe. Wife Agnes Rackhan is downright crazy, and their family doctor is a snake. There are other assorted characters who are also insufferable. They seem to float in and out of chapters without contributing very much to the story. The plot is much ado about nothing. When the story line finally starts picking up, the book ends very abruptly with loose ends dangling left and right. So much of the plot was also unbelievable. How often in Victorian society was a prostitute (raised in a brothel, no less) well read enough to discuss class literature with her clients? How likely is it that someone would bring a prostitute into their very prim and proper home to serve as a governess? Why would that same prostitute (who was often written up as being one of the best in London) not change her tell-tale name when trying to become part of respectable society? It just makes for incredulous reading. I'm not saying that there isn't some merit to be found here. I always enjoy reading about Victorian Society, and find that this is a fascinating period in history. Faber also has a way with words and can often turn a phrase that can border on genius. But on the whole, I would have rather spent the 2 weeks it took me to read this book, reading something much more enjoyable. It makes me wonder where Faber's editor was on this one...
Rating:
Summary: Faber is the Ang Lee of literature
Review: If Michel Faber were a director, he would be the Ang Lee of cinema. He tries on different styles with each book, with varying success. His first, "Under the Skin," was a masterwork-- his "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," if you will. Yes, it was about a female alien driving around the Scottish Highlands picking up male hitchhikers for nefarious purposes, but Faber lifted his story from the realm of The X-Files to literary brilliance. Another book, The Courage Consort, was a slim, satirical but very funny volume about an a cappella singing group rehearsing in a house near the Black Forest. The third I read, Some Rain Must Fall, is a collection of short stories: some merely okay, the rest exhibiting the gifted, sci-fi quirkiness of Under the Skin--sort of Ray Bradbury meets Ian McEwan. So, when Crimson Petal came out, I had no idea what to expect, and at the same time I expected great things. And I was disappointed--sort of. The heroine, we're led to believe, is Sugar, a prostitute so talented she's one of the highlights in a gentleman's guidebook to London. It's about her fall (in Victorian London, prostitutes were considered fallen women) and rise in "decent" society. Faber creates a fully dimensional, compelling character who I was dying to read all about. And yet, for a full 500 pages, we're treated to the egotistical persona of William Rackham, the perfumer who claims Sugar as his mistress, his alternately airheaded and insane wife Agnes, his pious brother Henry, and the do-gooder widow Fox, whom Henry keeps having sexual fantasies about. Oh, yes, there are also endless, vivid descriptions of London and its Season (for three months, all the aristos do is party). Where is Sugar in all this? She's a supporting character, shadowing Agnes and plotting in the background on how to keep William for as long as she can. To put it bluntly, Sugar's story only really takes off in the last 200 pages, and then, just when you're so addicted to her character you can't put the book down, the story ends.
To be fair, although Faber didn't tie all the ends up neatly, if you think about all the clues he gives, you can put together a fairly decent picture of his intended ending. I just wished he had imbued the first 500 pages with a little more substance. I was very frustrated with how the story seemed to be going nowhere. Bottom line is, this book isn't for everybody, even if you're a Faber fan, which I most certainly am. Read "Under the Skin" first, to get the full scope of this writer. To flog the analogy once again, Crimson Petal isn't Faber's "Sense and Sensibility," unfortunately; more like Lee's "Hulk."
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