Michel Faber

Michel Faber was born in 1960 in The Hague. When he was seven, he emigrated with his parents to Australia, after which he moved to Scotland in 1993. There, in 1998, he published the short story collection Some Rain Must Fall to critical acclaim (awarded the Macallan Short Story Competition and the Ian St. James Award). In 2000, Under the Skin (Onderhuids) appeared, now translated into 15 countries and shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award 2000. After twenty years, he completed his masterpiece The Crimson Petal and the White, published under the title Lelieblank, Scharlaken Rood.

This book is set around 1870 and tells the story of Sugar, an intelligent nineteen-year-old prostitute who longs for a better life. Thanks to a wealthy perfume manufacturer, Sugar climbs the social ladder in an unusual way. Although Faber describes his protagonist Sugar with historical precision as a typical woman of her time, his empathy turns her into a portrait of women of all times.

“A masterly literary soap: the addicted reader wants only one thing — The Crimson Petal 2, or how things turned out for Sugar. Moreover: a dealer cannot simply turn off the tap. He owes it to us.” (Stine Jensen in NRC Handelsblad, 13 September 2002)