Friday Book Club pick this week is Michel Faber’s intoxicating novel The Crimson Petal and the White, out now in a new tie-in edition to the BBC drama.

Sugar, an alluring 19-year-old whore in the brothel of the terrifying Mrs Castaway, yearns for a better life. Her ascent through the strata of 1870s London society offers us intimacy with a host of loveable, maddening and superbly realised characters.

The Crimson Petal and the White is a big, juicy, must-read of a novel that will delight, enthrall, provoke and entertain young and old, male and female.

Start a discussion about this book with your reading group with the help of our reading group notes. And as always, you can ask us questions via facebook and twitter. Happy reading!