The Crimson Petal and The White; The Apple

Why am I reviewing two books in one go?? I'll tell ya why. Because you can't not read The Apple after reading The Crimson Petal and The White. Michael Faber wrote a wonderfully brilliant novel that led me through 800 pages of awesomeness, only to drop me off in the middle of nowhere. I fell in love with the characters and felt so sad when the book ended because.. well, there wasn't much of an end. Then I discovered The Apple. Faber followed up TCPatW with a great little novella of short stories. I finally found out what happened to the characters that I felt so connected to.

The Crimson Petal starts with a prostitute. Now, Faber does a great job of bringing you into the world of Victorian England with great language, an easy story telling narrative, and scandal. The prostitute we start with isn't a main character, but she does show up a few more times. The main character is a girl named Sugar. Yes, she is a prostitute. But she is such a likable prostitute. You can't help but fall in love with this woman on her journey. She meets a somewhat down in the world William Rackham who turns his fortunes around to give Sugar whatever she wants. 800 pages may seem like a HUGE book, and yes it is. But it is such a great read that you probably won't notice the size. I read this book as slow as I could because I wanted to savor every moment of it. The Apple was much the same way, although much much shorter. I highly recommend both of these. However, reader be warned!! If you are easily offended by sexual things in books, I don't suggest you read this. It IS about a prostitute after all. But it will give you an interesting look into the world of prostitution back in Victorian London.

You can get TCPatW here. The Apple can be seen here. Both are fantastic. I would recommend snuggling up to a fire and having a good snack on hand to read these!!