Search - Slammerkin

Many of my friends have raved about this book!
Born to rough cloth in working-class London in 1748, Mary Saunders hungers for linen and lace. Her lust for a shiny red ribbon leads her to a life of prostitution at a young age. A dangerous misstep sends her fleeing to Monmouth and the refuge of the middle-class household of Mrs. Jones, her mother's childhood friend. There she becomes the seamstress her mother always expected her to be and lives the ordinary life of an ordinary girl.

Although Mary becomes a close confidante of Mrs. Jones and has a catalytic effect on the entire household, her desire for a better life leads her back to prostitution. Ultimately, Mary remains true only to the three rules she learned on the streets of London: Never give up your liberty. Clothes make the woman. Clothes are the greatest lie ever told. And it is clothes, their splendor and their deception, that will finally lead Mary to disaster.

I didn't really want to like Mary, but I found myself liking her very much and having a lot of pity for her and hoping that things would work out for her. If only she had not longed so much for the red ribbon. How differently would everything have worked out? But then again, would her life have really been that much better had she not wanted the ribbon?

I read this in two days!! From the back cover:
"A gripping and extraordinarily atmospheric tale.....Not only has Emma Donoghue writen an elegant and literary page turner in the best, contemporary sense, she has also laid a rich feast for lovers of historical novels."

Slammerkin was an interesting book. Having never read anything by the author I wasn't sure what to expect. It was a bit slow getting started but I liked it.

WOW--this was a wonderful read. Wasn't sure if i'd like it totally, but i LOVED it. You'll love Mary and the life she lives adds so much to this really sad but charming story. I found the more i read, the faster i found myself reading. Mary's demise was her love of beauty and the edge of life she could just not quite reach, no matter how she tried. This really was well worth time spent reading.

It was okay. A little slow in the middle.