Slammerkin

Rating:
Summary: Riveting from beginning to end.
Review: The book is a fictionalized account of the life of murderess Mary Saunders who was born in 1748 in London. After an unfortunate encounter with a ribbon seller leaves her pregnant at 14 her mother turns her out of the home to live on the streets. With the help of a prostitute named Doll, Mary becomes accustomed to the life of selling herself to the dregs of London society in order to eke out a living for herself. But an ailment becomes the turning point for her as she must flee from London and try to better herself in order to survive.

This was one of those books I picked up for a lark and ended up enjoying. I found myself carrying it around with me everywhere I went, and compulsively read it in my spare moments. The plot woven by Donoghue around the few facts and suppositions that remain about the real Mary Saunders is dramatic and engaging. The writing is poignant and fluid and compelling from cover to cover. I recommend to fans of classic English literature and contemporary fans alike, this book has a bit for all to appreciate.



Rating:
Summary: An unique, intriguing and exciting read
Review: I highly recommend this book. I found myself quickly drawn into the story and I could barely put the book down until it was finished. Rarely am I this utterly transported into a story. This is the best book I have read in a very long time. Amazingly realistic characterization. Fascinating history. A tragic tale of a young girl who is drawn into a life of prostitution at the age of only 13. Readers will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A breathless, poignant page-turner
Review: Born in 1748 London to a family that barely scrapes by, fourteen-year-old Mary Saunders possesses nothing that isn't gray or brown. She yearns for something more, though she's not worldly enough to know what the "something" is until a simple red ribbon, suspended in the folds of a peddler's coat, inspires in her a need so great that she allows herself to be raped in payment for it. As a result of the encounter, Mary becomes pregnant and is banished from her home and family for her shame. Further brutalized in a gutter on her first night on her own, Mary is rescued by Doll, a prostitute who lacks morals but not kindness.

Almost inevitably, the unskilled Mary becomes a prostitute under the tutelage of Doll. She's soon seduced by the money she can earn and the colorful clothes that money buys, as well as by her newfound "freedom." Plying "the trade" on the dirty and pitiless streets of London, Mary grows up fast. She develops a knack for reading people and manipulating them; yet, emotionally, she remains a child, tender and disastrously confused.

Eventually, a series of misfortunes sends Mary fleeing from London for her life. She travels to distant Monmouth, where her parents had met before leaving to seek their fortunes in London. Concocting a story about her "dead" mother's last wish, Mary secures a place in the household of her mother's erstwhile best friend, a dressmaker.

For the first time in her life, Mary experiences a nurturing environment, has people who care about her. Although her arrogance wins her no friends amongst the other servants, she feels happy for a time and learns to be an excellent seamstress. But her old demons still haunt her. Her yearning for the fine garments and fine lives of her employer's clients becomes insufferable. She regresses and begins living the kind of double life that can't last in a small town.

Emma Donoghue's richly-hued prose unflinchingly recreates the brutality and degradation of eighteenth-century London's seamy side. Her secondary characters are anything but secondary; many of them could respectably carry their own stories. Not being conversant in the history of this period, I can't speak to historical accuracy, but nothing struck me as shaky or implausible. It was all frighteningly real.

Many of the editorial reviews excerpted on the cover of the trade paper edition contain phrases like "rollicking romp," "swoon of a novel," and "costume drama." Those are terms to be applied to a Regency romance; they are an insult to this dark, tragic story and its deeply conflicted heroine. I don't think the reviewers who made those comments actually read the book. It kept me turning pages and reading far into the night, because I saw the kernel of good in Mary and kept hoping she'd get some sense and do something right just once. Turn her life around. But she consistently botched her opportunities, achingly intent on self-destruction.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating look at an 18th-century murder
Review: What a fantastic piece of historical fiction. As a college history major, I tend to be skeptical of books like this; however, this exquisite novel by Emma Donoghue pleasantly surprised me.
Slammerkin follows the true story of Mary Saunders a young woman who grows up in squalor in London, to turn to prostitution in return for a single red ribbon. It is there that we watch Mary's obsession with clothing unfold, as she travels north to take a position as assistant Mrs. Jones, a seamstress friend of her mother's. Day after day, they make elegant, exquisite clothes for the gentlewomen in town, and Mary dreams of one day owning clothing such as those.
I loved the way Emma Donoghue puts two and two together, trying to figure out why Mary kills her employer. As Mary said, "I did it for the clothes." Donoghue takes this enigmatic idea and runs with it, portraying the very last minutes before the murder. The murder itself is frightening, yet at the same time its like a car accident: you can't help but want to watch.
The sad thing is, that life turns out horribly wrong for Mary Saunders in the end. She has a hard time adjusting to life as a "normal" person (ie, not a prostitute).She also has difficulty hiding the truth of her situation from the rest of the small northern town she lives in.
So in all, I recommend this book. I couldn't put it down. Also recommended: The Crimson Petal and the White, by Michael Faber.


Rating:
Summary: A Memorable Read
Review: What this book so graphically illustrates are the perpetual issues of injustice, greed, double standards, moral and immoral glut. I would not recommend Emma Donoghue's story to those readers who typically enjoy Regency romances. This is too gritty, too painful, and bleak. The story is rich in its depiction of the ghastly subsistance of the working poor. It is, though, one of the most memorable books I've read in some time.

Rating:
Summary: A Tale of Desire
Review: Mary Saunders is a girl born to a poor family in working-class London. But Mary has a desire for the finer things in life. While her mother tells her that you are born into a given social hierarchy, Mary craves the beautiful, colourful dresses she sees the rich women wear.

That is when she sells herself to a man for a red ribbon. Her mother turns her out into the street when she finds out her daughter is pregnant and has brought shame to the family. So begins the next stage of Mary's life.

The story of Mary's life is not an easy one. The prostitution aspect is never described as you would imagine in a book of erotica. What this author describes, rather, is the business aspect of it, the poverty and unhappiness of the women, but also the independance these women have. Although Mary tries to get out of this line of work to pursue a more honest means of earning money, she soon finds that selling herself is a more lucrative and faster way of earning her way to a better life. However, these cravings are also what get her into serious trouble.

Emma Donoghue tells a wonderful, well-written historical fiction that is a window to what life was like in 18th century England.