The Crimson Petal and the White Readathon: Week 4!

1) Out of all the people that I thought would be written out of the story, I didn't have Henry down as the first to go. Most underwhelming death scene ever?

Haha, it is a bit of a shock, isn't it? It's such a weird death scene- I wouldn't call it underwhelming so much as confusing and wait what just happened? It sort of had to be that way, though. Henry just wasn't going to go one way or another- I mean he wasn't going to take the leap and become a pastor, but he wasn't going to be able to just sleep with someone either. I have to say, when William was telling Henry he should just go ahead and sleep with Emmeline (in slightly... coarser terms) I was in full agreement. But yeah. He couldn't, so he had to die.

I'm glad Emmeline's recovered. And also that the cat was okay. Not going to lie, I was much more worried about his fate than Henry's...


2) Sugar's visit to Caroline showed how far away from her old life she's moved. How did you feel about their awkward exchange?

It was awkward. I like Caroline- it's hard not to. She's so lovely and prostitution seems to be genuinely a good life for her- as weird as that might sound. I found the bit where she learns about Henry's death surprisingly sad.

Also it's a strange one, because although you'd think Sugar would be better off than Caroline now, it doesn't seem to be the case. I think she misses the simplicity of her old life. She's realised that being a kept woman isn't as great as she thought it would be. And then she tries to remedy that by getting even closer to William and even further from her old life by becoming a governess, and... it's just not working. I think we can all tell this isn't going to end well for Sugar, right?


3) The prostitute-turned-governess twist is a bit of an odd one! How are you finding Sugar's efforts as Sophie's new governess?

It is an interesting one! Like I said, it surely won't end well, but Sugar seems surprisingly good at it. It's about time Sophie had someone looking out for her even a little bit- I feel bad for her being caught up in the mess of the Rackham marriage. Her mother apparently doesn't even know she exists and I'm still seething over William's 'a girl, unfortunately' comment.

I don't think Sugar will stick it for long though. It seems to have just made her relationship with William even more distant and she's far too much of a free spirit to put up with it. Also, having her in such close proximity to Agnes makes me very nervous indeed.


I can't believe we're so near the end! There's still plenty of excitement in store however ;)