Sugar, an alluring, nineteen-year-old whore in the brothel of the peculiar Mrs Castaway, yearns for a better life. And when she is visited by William Rackham – the somewhat reluctant heir to Rackham Perfumeries – she begins an ascent through the strata of 1870s London society that offers us intimacy with a host of loveable, maddening and superbly realised characters. Gripping from the first page, this immense novel is an intoxicating and deeply satisfying read – not only a wonderful story but the creation of an entire, extraordinary world.