'The Crimson Petal and the White', in some senses, has similar goals as John Fowles' 'The French Lieutenant's Woman.' Both of them are modern novels that revisit Victorian era England and view it from the lens of the 20th-21st century. Both novels tell us plainly that they are modern novels from the vantage point of the contemporary (at the time of writing) world. Although it's been over 30 years since I read Fowles' novel, I do recall that, while it points out contrasts between the Victorian era and the 20th century and even offers a metafictional choice of endings from which to choose it follows a narrative path that is very much in keeping with one of Thomas Hardy's novels if somewhat more frank in its carnal details.
At the outset of 'Crimson Petal..' it is made very clear that we are in the hands of a time-traveling tour guide, as though we're ghosts from the future that can follow undetected into the most intimate chambers of inhabitants of 1870's London. Also, as anyone who has read at least a few reviews of the novel has gathered, it not only has no alternative ending but it has NO conclusive ending. Actually, it does have a definite ending even if loose threads are left loose and we are left wondering about the fates of the characters 'Gone With the Wind' is inconclusive in that, while we know that Rhett Butler has left Scarlett O'Hara, seemingly permanently, we don't know if Scarlet will win him back as she claims on the final page.
It is also no surprise that this novel provides a contemporary's depiction of sexual matters that would not have been permitted in any reputable fiction of the Victorian era. We are introduced to a house of prostitution in the slums of 1875 London as well as some of its inhabitants: Caroline, a fallen woman of little education, her younger, yet better educated and professionally adept friend Sugar and Sugar's mother, Mrs. Castaway, the withered madam of the establishment.
On the other side of the tracks, we meet William Rackham, the literary son and heir to his father's perfumery. Despite having a wife and young daughter, William is reluctant to seize the reins of responsibility and take charge of the business. He spends many of his evenings in the company of his former classmates, the carousing, witty pair Bodley and Ashwell. The older son Henry, the son to whom the business should reasonably be handed down to, is a pious man who has never been temperamentally suited for business and feels that he would be better suited to God's calling, if he could be certain that God was really calling him, which he is not due to libidinous thoughts of his friend and fellow fundamentalist Emmeline Fox, whose ministry is to rescue fallen woman.
Seeking sexual gratification and a way to rescue him from his boring life, William seeks out Sugar, whose reputation for meeting ALL of a man's needs he has heard of from an alternative London guidebook, 'More Sprees in London—Hints for Men About Town, with advice for greenhorns'. When he finally meets her he is smitten, not only because she possesses an almost extrasensory awareness of what will satisfy him but because she is very intelligent and literate and almost as well-read as him. He is not aware that she spends most of her early mornings after a night's work writing a lurid novel of a prostitute's revenge. Her effect on William is spectacular. He floats on air and assumes a new lease on life and finally slips into the role of perfume manufacturer that his father envisioned for him. Soon William buys out her mother's investment in her, installs her in a small apartment closer to the respectable part of town and provides her with free room, board and food as well as a generous allowance, all for being available whenever he comes to call on her. Later this evolves into a position as the live-in governess of his daughter Sophie.
Contrasted with William's other life is that of his ailing wife Agnes, often bedridden and afflicted with fits and delusions although periodically able to function in high society. We see her inner struggle through glimpses of the diary she has kept since she was a child. In many respects she has remained a child and, like many women of the time, her fate is controlled first by her stepfather, then her husband. Even motherhood has not altered her self-centered selfishness. She wants nothing to do with her daughter. William is not particularly happy with the current governess and finds a reason to dismiss her and install Sugar in the position. Theoretically, it's an ideal situation. He has his lover installed as a full-time resident and employee of his household and his ailing wife stays in her room and never crosses paths with Sugar, who is busy instructing Sophie. I will say no more other than that the situation quickly becomes much less than ideal. In many respects the narrative direction is a reverse of the governess/employer relationship in 'Jane Eyre.'
Henry, although insufferably pious and guilt-ridden, provides an interesting contrast with the narrative of William and Sugar. His own platonic relationship with Emmeline also forms a symmetrical contrast to that of William and Sugar. I was somewhat disappointed that his fate was not entwined with theirs as I thought it would be.
Although the novel is set in the Victorian era and the characters are fully embodied products of their age, the prose style is decidedly not Victorian. There is no attempt to mimic the ornamental stylistic flourishes of many of the nineteenth century authors and, despite the novel's great length, the pace of the narrative flows quite swiftly.
Faber also succeeds in avoiding predictability of plot. Up until the last thirty pages or so this reader could not second guess the author and feel that he claimed to know with near certainty the outcome for all of the characters. For those who were frustrated with the lack of resolution, Faber published a collection of stories, 'The Apple: Crimson Petal Stories,' which I have purchased and intend to read although my impression is that, while it answers some questions about the fates about some of the characters, it doesn't attempt to tie up many of the loose ends left at the end of 'The Crimson Petal…' For me, the abrupt departure and lack of resolution is utterly authentic and completes the illusion of our journey back in time. Our tour guide has shown us all we need to know of this world and we are deposited at its conclusion safely back into the comfort of our 21st century lives.
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Marguerite
Dark, viciously funny, and worth reading every single word
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 30, 2014