Sugar, an alluring, nineteen-year-old prostitute in the brothel of the peculiar Mrs Castaway, yearns for a better life. And when she is visited by William Rackham, the somewhat reluctant heir to Rackham Perfumeries, she begins an ascent through the strata of 1870s' London society that offers us intimacy with a host of loveable, maddening and superbly realised characters.
Gripping from the first page, this hugely acclaimed novel is an intoxicating and deeply satisfying read - not only a wonderful story but the creation of an entire, extraordinary world.

This is going out as a UK bookring, let me know if you'd like to join.

Players so far are:
neverbelilith
Laura0141
MaureenHB
chelseagirl
calalilly
mastulela
.
.
and back to me!

I really enjoyed reading this, so much so that I was rather upset when I finished it.

It was flavoursome, sordid and shocking. But the main character still managed to be utterly likeable, realistic and generally fab.

I shall definately be looking for more books by Michel Faber and I shall be scouring the charity shops for a copy of this to add to my PC :)

Thank you so much for sending this to me! x

Sending to Laura0141 today!

Received with thanks.

Realistically I'm not going to get to read this mighty tome any time soon so I'm passing it on unread. Will PM next reader for addy.

On way to MaureenHB

Woops, I never got round to acknowledging receipt of this book.. I have read it and loved it.. it really is one of those books that you can't wait to get back into, I resented going to work, sleeping and even going to the pub as it took me away from the characters that were drawn so well. Thank you so much for the chance to read it. PMing wyldetwo for address to return to.

Well this has come on to me now, many thanks! Not the kind of thing i usually read but it sounds great and looks and feels sumptious! This is going to be a well-earned holiday read :0)

I am SO sorry ..... for some reason I had it in my head that this was either a RABCK or something I'd won in a book swap so its kept getting pushed to the back of the pile .... it was only when wyldetwo emailed me last week that I realised my mistake and I can't BELIEVE that I've had it for a year. Oh dear ..... I truly am a very bad BookCrosser :0(

Anyway, I've just cleared all the rings here (I hope!) and will be starting this later today. Again, I'm really sorry.

Finally read this and again, I'm so sorry for keeping it so long - but it was SO worth it!!

The life and times of Sugar, a Victorian prostitute; William Rackham; heir to a perfumerie; wife Agnes, struggling with an undiagnosed medical complaint; brother henry, a priest in the making; Mrs Fox, determined to save London's whores from themselves; and Miss Sophie, a child the world seems to ahve forgotten.

What an amazing book - from the first page I was gripped, and the journey I took through Victorian London was funny, shocking, illuminating, painful and heartwarming by turn. The characters were so well painted that I felt I knew them despite the century-plus gap in time and I will miss them now I've finished. I have to admit that I found this novel quite a slog at first because of the detailed style of writing and sheer size of the book, but the further I got though the 800+ pages the more I wanted to read and I read the last 300 in bed in one go, desperate to find out what happened but at the same time desperately sad to reach the end.

I'll contact calalilly now for an address and get this moving on asap. Thanks for bearing with me :)

Received in the post today from Chelseagirl, thanks. This looks to be a mammoth challenge, one I''m sure I''m going to enjoy but not something that will be done very quickly. I''ve got a couple of books to read ahead of this and then I will get down to it.