Set in London and Monmouth in the late 1700s, this is an extraordinary novel about Mary Saunders, the young daughter of a poor seamstress. Mary hungers greedily for fine clothes and ribbons, as people of her class do for food and warmth. It's a hunger that lures her into prostitution at the age of thirteen. Mary is thrown out by her distraught mother when she gets pregnant and almost dies on the dangerous streets of London. Her saviour is Doll - a prostitute. Mary roams London freely with Doll, selling her body to all manner of 'cullies', dressed whorishly in colourful, gaudy dresses with a painted red smile. Faced with bad debts and threats upon her life she eventually flees to Monmouth, her mother's hometown, where she attempts to start a new life as a maid in Mrs Jones's house. But Mary soon discovers that she can't escape her past and just how dearly people like her pay for yearnings not fitting to their class in society...
Slammerkin
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"Strangers might remember a trip to Monmouth to see a girl hang, but who would spare a thought for the whos and hows and whys?" Mary Saunders asks herself on the way to the scaffold. Emma Donoghue has taken the scant facts of Mary's short life in the 1760s and given her heart, flesh, guts and humour in this fine tale. Mary, at 13, seduced by an impulse for a coloured ribbon, and dreams of silks and sashes--as well as longings to better herself--becomes a slammerkin, a loose woman, in the roil of Hogarthian London. Her friend and mentor into the world of tricks is Doll who knows every inch of the city's high and low life. When Mary finds her dead, she flees to Monmouth and tries to reinvent herself as a servant girl. But the chafes of servitude and of "knowing her place" lead to a double life, a brutal murder, and her end at 16.
No rags to riches tale here, but nor does the author allow the brutal circumstances of Mary's life to swamp her colourful and richly textured narrative. Mary is full of spark and cheek; her eye is sharp to the hypocrisies of privilege and religion, her speech deliciously expresses her disdain for her "betters". Only occasionally does the narrative slip into too much telling at the expense of showing, and thus loses some of its emotional impact and pace.
That said, Emma Donoghue's gifts as a storyteller are considerable: her unsparing accounts of small and large events, a wealth of detail and a wonderfully rich and fluent language makes this a vivid and moving slice from the underbelly of 18th-century life.--Ruth Petrie
Review
There's no cheating in the end, no happy neat ending, but instead a rawness which feels real and deeply satisfying. -- MARGARET FORSTER
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By DV8 Diva
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I loved this book. I read it a few years ago and it is one that I return to periodically and re-read, and I enjoy it each time.
So I am delighted to find it available as a Kindle book.
The character of 'Mary', the female protagonist, is not a likeable one at all.She is conniving, cunning and ultimately a criminal, but she is very much a product of her time.She follows the path that Life has decided she must follow to the bitter end. It is not a happy book and some readers may find the downward spiral of Mary's short life depressing- but Emma Donoghue has created a fascinating character, supported by other vividly drawn portraits.Georgian England is a lonely purgatory for people who slip through Society's net, as does Mary.I liked the character of 'Doll',the irrepressible prostitute,the best of all. Sharp, sad, hilarious in parts,dark.Read it!
So I am delighted to find it available as a Kindle book.
The character of 'Mary', the female protagonist, is not a likeable one at all.She is conniving, cunning and ultimately a criminal, but she is very much a product of her time.She follows the path that Life has decided she must follow to the bitter end. It is not a happy book and some readers may find the downward spiral of Mary's short life depressing- but Emma Donoghue has created a fascinating character, supported by other vividly drawn portraits.Georgian England is a lonely purgatory for people who slip through Society's net, as does Mary.I liked the character of 'Doll',the irrepressible prostitute,the best of all. Sharp, sad, hilarious in parts,dark.Read it!
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By "emmarald"
Format:Paperback
This is the kind of book that you get so immersed in, that I missed my stop while reading it on the bus!
Emma Donoghue writes as if she had walked the streets of 18th century London and Monmouth and seen it first hand. I work in the Charing Cross area where the first part of the book is set, and while wandering around I found myself imagining life as it happened back then, looking for clues of the London of old, seeing things through Mary Saunders eyes.
It is a tragic tale, and the fact that it is based on a true story and interweaves real people's lives makes it all the more spooky and believable.
I would recommend it to anyone!
Emma Donoghue writes as if she had walked the streets of 18th century London and Monmouth and seen it first hand. I work in the Charing Cross area where the first part of the book is set, and while wandering around I found myself imagining life as it happened back then, looking for clues of the London of old, seeing things through Mary Saunders eyes.
It is a tragic tale, and the fact that it is based on a true story and interweaves real people's lives makes it all the more spooky and believable.
I would recommend it to anyone!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Jacq Russell
Format:Paperback
The kind of book you can't put down -- and the kind you're upset is over. It leaves you fighting with yourself over a sense of "fairness" that is missed in these stories (and that's probably the point).
Mary's story is one of a girl born possibly in the wrong time and place, a woman who wanted more than life could ever give her in her time.
A definite must-read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling
I loved this book despite the dark subject matter. The writer shows great skill in really bringing the characters and locations to life with so much vibrancy that you feel you are... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Rose
4.0 out of 5 stars
'What was the tapeworm in her stomach that always made her hunger for...
Absolutely compelling read set in 1760s London and Wales- so much so that I was looking up the places and the main character on the Internet. Read more
Published 3 months ago by sally tarbox
4.0 out of 5 stars
Slammerkin
Brilliant beginning but the ending feels as if she is forcing the history on to her fictional creation. Worth reading
Published 3 months ago by Heather Eaton
4.0 out of 5 stars
slammerkin
Really enjoyable, gritty historical novel. Giving an informative insight to the life and struggles experienced by the lower classes in the mid 1700s in London England.
Published 4 months ago by marj simpson
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not another ROOM
I wouldn't recommend this for admirers of the brilliant Room, unless they also favour historical and (dare I say it) female dramas. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Dillon the Villain
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant
I loved this book, very atmospheric with vivid descriptions of Georgian London. The main character, Mary is compelling - deceitful and conniving but somehow we are drawn to her and... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Niamh
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing book
If you like historical fiction from a female perspective, then this is perfect. Reminded me of Michael Faber or Sarah Waters.
Published 6 months ago by Amazonaddicted
1.0 out of 5 stars
Found it non convincing
I found the writing style to bullet point and did not draw me in got 11% in to the book and had no real compassion for the charecter and no real care of what came of her and so did... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Jon
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another gem from Emma Donaghue
I loved this book from start to finish! To me, it felt like a very dark fairy story (without the happy ending! Read more
Published 10 months ago by NicNac
3.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant but...
When I read the sample for this book after falling in love with "Room", I thought "oh, yes, I am going to like this". I bought it straight away, read the first few pages... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Virginia de la Cruz
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