Michel Faber's bestselling blockbuster set in 19th-century London

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

'Watch your step. Keep your wits about you; you will need them . . .'

So begins this irresistible voyage into the dark side of Victorian London. Amongst an unforgettable cast of low-lifes, physicians, businessmen and prostitutes, meet our heroine Sugar, a young woman trying to drag herself up from the gutter any way she can. Be prepared for a mesmerising tale of passion, intrigue, ambition and revenge.

"This is an unputdownable book; there is no choice but to give in to this most unbelievably pleasurable of narrative rides . . . Faber's take on the nineteenth century English novel is a heady and intoxicating mixture of affection, respect and scabrous resistance" - * The Times *

"A sexy, bravura novel... wildly entertaining" - * New York Times *

"Owes as much to John Fowles as it does to Charlotte Bronte. Which is to say that the book is both mind-bogglingly clever and page-turningly tempting. Don't miss it" - * Daily Telegraph *

"Key to its success is the book's sly acknowledgment of its modernity without recourse to taking up the crude cudgels of irony . . . a sybaritic pleasure and a ripping yarn" - * The Times *

"Owes as much to John Fowles as it does to Charlotte Brontë. Which is to say that the book is both mind-bogglingly clever and page-turningly tempting. Don't miss it" - * Daily Telegraph *

"An intensely imaginative time-travel experience" - * Independent *

"Takes the historical novel and, in the spirit of its subject matter, submits it to a good rogering in terms of graphically exposing the sexual details Dickens and Co. couldn't (or wouldn't) write about" - * Sunday Herald *

"It is a long read but a rewarding one. It is also, unsurprisingly, a sexy one. Indeed, at times it seems that the real central characters are the readers, good voyeurs that we are" - * Observer *

"The verdict: a scary tome, but crack the spine and you're into a gripping tale . . . Try if you like the thought of Dickens rising again to have a stab at erotic drama" - * FHM***** *

"Down-and-dirty tale of an upwardly mobile Victorian prostitute . . . a scintillating tour de force" - * Sunday Telegraph *

"The novel that Dickens might have write had he been allowed to speak freely . . . Faber's writing is so dizzyingly accomplished that he is able to convince you that, just sometimes, the old stories really are the best ones" - * Guardian *