International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award 2002

[home] [news] [this year's award] [publishers] [libraries] [award archive] [faqs] [dublin city public libraries] [IMPAC] [contact us]

The 2004 Award

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber Harcourt

Nominated by:

Hoofdstedelijke Openbare Bibliotheek, Brussels, Belgium
Aberdeen Library & Information Services, Aberdeen, Scotland
NBLC; The Public Library; The Royal Library, The Hague, The Netherlands
Denver Public Library, Denver, USA
Pikes Peak Library District, Colorado, USA
Chicago Public Library, Chicago, USA

Publishers of Nominated Editions:
Canongate Books ISBN 1841953237
Harcourt ISBN 015100692X

The Crimson Petal and the White
by Michel Faber

the complete A-Z listing of nominated authors

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Crimson Petal and the White takes us back to the 1870's where Sugar, an alluring, nineteen-year-old whore, yearns for a better life. Her ascent through the strata of London society introduces us to a host of loveable, maddening, superbly realised characters - an egotistical perfume manufacturer, his unhinged wife, his pious brother, his hidden child, preening socialites, guttersnipes, whores for all tastes and those zealous would-be reformers of fallen women, the Rescue Society.
At the heart of this panoramic, multi-layered narrative is one young woman's compelling struggle to lift her body and soul out of the gutter. Although Faber's stunning historical vision illuminates Sugar as a creature of her time, his compassion and insight gives her timeless and universal appeal. Gripping from the first page, this immense novel of Victorian proportions is an extraordinarily rich, intricate, intoxicating and deeply satisfying read.
.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michel Faber's startlingly original novel, Under the Skin (2000), which garnered accolades from around the world, was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award 2000 and nominated for the 2002 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. He has also won several short story awards including the Neil Gunn, Ian St. James and Macallan; Some Rain Must Fall (1998), his first collection of stories, won a Scottish Arts Council award as well as the Saltire First Book of the Year Award, 1999. Faber's fiction is being translated into 21 languages. Born in Holland, brought up in Australia, he now lives in the Scottish Highlands.

Find out more about the author on the publisher website

Editorial & reader reviews of The Crimson Petal and the White

Author biography, interview & extracts from The Crimson Petal and the White

[home] [news] [this year's award] [publishers] [libraries] [award archive] [dublin city public libraries] [IMPAC] [faqs] [contact us]