Heather's Library

The Crimson Petal and the White
by Michael Faber
p.6 Few know what year it is, or even that eighteen and a half centuries have passed since a Jewish troublemaker was hauled away to the gallows for disturbing the peace.

p.53 One afternoon wasted on it ought to be enough, surely? Granted, he once opined in a Cambridge undergraduate magazine that 'a single day spent doing things which fail to nourish the soul is a day stolen, mutilated, and discarded in the gutter of destiny."

p.63 The bald facts are these: Rackham Senior is getting tired of running Rackham Perfumeries, damn tired. His first-born, Henry, is no use whatsoever as an heir, having devoted himself to God from a young age. A decent enough fellow and, as a frugal bachelor, not much of a bother to support--although, if he really means to make his career in the Church, he's taking a powerful long time deliberating over it. But never mind: the younger boy, William, will have to do. Like Henry, he's slow to show a talent for anything, but he has expensive tastes, a stylish wife and a fair-sized household--all of which suck hard at the nipple of paternal generosity.

p.73 And so the passing strollers in St James's Park are transformed unwittingly into sirens, and each glowing boy becomes suggestive of its social shadow, the prostitute. And to a blind little penis, swaddled in trousers, there is no difference between a whore and a lady, except that the whore is available, with no angry champions to deal with, no law on her side, no witnesses, no complaints. Therefore, when William Rackham finds himself possessed of an erection, his immediate impulse is to take it directly to the nearest whore.

p.100 William had no desire to smoke, but vapour issues from his person nonetheless: his damp clothing is beginning to steam.

( more under the cut (mature content) )