Michel Faber - The Crimson Petal & The White
Having read all the way through this book, I still don't know where the title comes from. Perhaps I should look it up on wikipedia... I'm sure there is something profound in it that I have missed, probably linked to one passage within the dense continuous description.
That sounds like a complaint. It's NOT. I have never read a book with so many descriptive passages, although now I'm reading (struggling through) Vanity Fair I perhaps see where Faber got his cues from. But, a book like this helps me remember why I took History at University. Delving into historical London with such lucious description made this book so enjoyable - I very much enjoyed this book. All the characters were historically accurate - I've never come across a William in historical literature quite like this one - and engaging, especially Sugar. Her feminist outburts and lascivious novel were brilliant, although I think more could have been done with said novel. It was pretty depressing when she lost it at the end. Anyway, combined description and good plot and wonderful imagery make this a pretty gripping read.
It's a big book. It took me a long time to read. But I never lost track of the plot because it was very well maintained. I guess what also helped was the BBC's dramatisation of the novel at the same time I was reading it - I know you shouldn't watch films/television before reading the book, but sometimes it brings the page to life a bit more in your head because you have a clear picture of the characters looks in your head. I find it quite hard to conjure a face and a body out of my imagination from just pure description, so having an actor stand in and do it for me - even if they're not quite accurate - definitely helps me.
I'm going to try and read more historical books from now on - hopefully I won't have to wade through endless amounts of trash (believe me, it's out there) before I find something as good as this. The great thing about it is that it is entirely fictional, I find it quite difficult to read books about Anne Boleyn or someone like that - a REAL person - which embeds them into a story when I know it's not true. Pure, imaginative fiction, like Vanity Fair, and this book, is much more up my street. Thanks to Katie Dyer for the recommendation.
