The Crimson petal and the white

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I was far too young in the 1870's to pay proper attention to everything I should, so this account is no doubt riddled with inaccuracies. In fact, The Crimson Petal would have been complete and utter fiction had I not been aided in my researches by a great many people. I thank them for sharing their memories with me, and accept responsibility for any falsehoods that remain. Some of these, like the re-scheduling of the Abbots Ripton rail disaster and the shameless embezzlement of what properly belongs to Le Petomane, are deliberate; others are mere ignorance, from which the following erudite folk were powerless to save me:

Chris Baggs, Clare Bainbridge, Paul

Barlow, Francis Barnard, Lucinda

Becker, Cynthia Behrman, Gemma

Bentley, Alex Bernson, Marjorie

Bloy, Nancy Booth, Nicola Bown,

Trev Broughton, Arthur Burns, Jamie

Byng, Rosemary Campbell, Roger

Cline, Ken Collins, Betty Cortus,

Eileen M. Curran, Frederick

Denny, Patrizia di Bello, Jonathan

Dore, Gail Edwards, K Eldron,

Marguerite Finnigan, Holly Forsythe,

Judy Geater, Grayson Gerrard, Sheldon

Goldfarb, Kerryn Goldsworthy, Valerie

Gorman, Jill Grey, Lesley Hall,

Beth Harris, Kay Heath, Sarah J.

Heidt, Toni Johnson-Woods, Ellen

Jordan, Iveta Jusova, Katie

Karrick, Gillian Kemp, Andrew King,

No Klaver, Patrick Leary, Paul

Lewis, Janet Loengard, Margot Louis,

Michael Martin, Chris Ann Matteo,

Liz McCausland, Hugh MacDougall,

Kirsten MacLeod, Deborah

McMillion, Terry L. Meyers, Sally

Mitchell, Ellen Moody, Barbara

Mortimer, Jess Nevins, Rosemary

Oakeshott, Judy Oberhausen, Jeanne

Peterson, Sian Preece, Angela

Richardson, Cynthia Rogerson, Mario

Rups, Herb Schlossberg, Barbara Schulz,

Malcolm Shifrin, Helen Simpson,

Carolyn Smith, Rebecca Steinitz, Matthew Sweet, Ruth Symes, Carol L. Thomas, George H. Thomson, Maria Torres, Audrey Verdin, Trina Wallace, Robert Ward, Stephen Wildman, Peter Wilkins, Perry Willett, Chris Willis, Michael Wolff and Karen Wolven.

I'm indebted to Patrick Leary for setting up the excellent VICTORIA Internet discussion group, and to Cathy Edgar for directing me to it.

Mindful of the necessity to keep this book nice and slim, I can't list all the publications I've consulted, though special mention must be made of Jennifer Davies' The Victorian Kitchen. Thanks to all the folk who've written about the era, and especially to those who photographed and painted it.

Several brave souls volunteered to read the manuscript. Kenneth Fielden's sound advice at an early stage steered me away from blind alleys and pitfalls, and gave me a push in the right direction. Mary Ellen Kappler read the text in weekly instalments sent through the ether, and worked more closely on it than I had any right to expect. Her rare combination of scholarship and insight was not merely useful but inspirational.

Thanks also to my editor Judy Moir, who combed through the manuscript with the same care, dedication and good humour that she has shown in editing my previous books.

Most of all I'd like to thank my wife Eva for her incisive criticisms of The Crimson Petal in its radically different drafts over the years. Her high expectations and her ability to communicate her vision of the book's potential have enriched it to end.

Michel Faber

April 2002