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melsher98's review against another edition
2.0
I had really high hopes for this after Room. I put it down. I kept waiting for something to happen and it never did.
bgg616's review against another edition
3.0
This is between 3 and 4 stars for me. The beginning was tough to engage in but as Mary moves out of London, the story becomes more interesting as she tries to hide her past as a prostitute in London. It is hard to believe this is a 14 year old when the story begins and when it ends she is only 16 or 17. It does illustrate how few options there were for women in 18th century England especially poor women. It is based on a true story which is revealed in an afternote.
coffeeandreads's review against another edition
3.0
Very quick read. I was torn between feeling sympathy for Mary and the need to put some sense into her head. I *might* have yelled at her a little. :) Coming from a different era and a completely different lifestyle, I don't know if I'll ever fully understand her motivation to do certain things. The fact is someone like her did exist and did what she did.
Overall, a pretty good book. It deserves a 3.5 rather than a 3.
Overall, a pretty good book. It deserves a 3.5 rather than a 3.
carfly1111's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
aukward's review against another edition
1.0
Couldn't finish this. Characters weren't intriguing. Plot was slow moving.
sm_almon's review against another edition
Interesting subject matter, but I found the book was a bit long for the material.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
4.0
‘We’re each of us born into a place on this earth. We must make the best of it.’
Mary Saunders, born in 1748 into Hogarth’s working class-London, yearns for a better life. At the age of fourteen, she loses her virginity in return for a shiny red ribbon. A few months later, pregnant, Mary is turned out of the house by her mother. Shortly afterwards, Doll Higgins, a sharp-tongued young prostitute, takes Mary under her wing and teaches her how to survive on the rough streets of London’s red light district. Mary relishes the liberty her prostitution provides and her ability to acquire colourful clothes, while readers wince at the awfulness of the world she inhabits with its dirt and disease, and wonder how long Mary can survive in this world. Mary’s call of ‘fourteen and clean’ can only be temporary, surely.
‘Slammerkin. A loose dress for a loose woman.’
Following a period in the Magdalen (a hospital that looks after prostitutes who claim they are willing to repent), Mary needs to flee London for the country. She travels to Monmouth, where her parents once lived. There, in service to Mrs Jones (her mother’s friend), she works as a dressmaker’s assistant. Mary has a natural skill with the needle, and quickly becomes indispensable to Mrs Jones. But Mary is restless; she still desires a different life and can see herself wearing the sort of finery that she has to labour over for others. And this restlessness proves tragic.
‘A whore’s life was made up of fragments of other people’s.’
This is a black and bleak story, inspired by a murder that took place in the Welsh Borders in September 1763. I didn’t so much enjoy this novel as get tangled up in it. Few facts have survived about the real Mary Saunders, but Emma Donghue’s imagined Mary seems very real for much of the novel. Hogarthian London is uncomfortable: the brutality, poverty and pain is distressing. And Monmouth? If only Mary could have settled. If only.
‘Clothes outlived people, she knew that.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Mary Saunders, born in 1748 into Hogarth’s working class-London, yearns for a better life. At the age of fourteen, she loses her virginity in return for a shiny red ribbon. A few months later, pregnant, Mary is turned out of the house by her mother. Shortly afterwards, Doll Higgins, a sharp-tongued young prostitute, takes Mary under her wing and teaches her how to survive on the rough streets of London’s red light district. Mary relishes the liberty her prostitution provides and her ability to acquire colourful clothes, while readers wince at the awfulness of the world she inhabits with its dirt and disease, and wonder how long Mary can survive in this world. Mary’s call of ‘fourteen and clean’ can only be temporary, surely.
‘Slammerkin. A loose dress for a loose woman.’
Following a period in the Magdalen (a hospital that looks after prostitutes who claim they are willing to repent), Mary needs to flee London for the country. She travels to Monmouth, where her parents once lived. There, in service to Mrs Jones (her mother’s friend), she works as a dressmaker’s assistant. Mary has a natural skill with the needle, and quickly becomes indispensable to Mrs Jones. But Mary is restless; she still desires a different life and can see herself wearing the sort of finery that she has to labour over for others. And this restlessness proves tragic.
‘A whore’s life was made up of fragments of other people’s.’
This is a black and bleak story, inspired by a murder that took place in the Welsh Borders in September 1763. I didn’t so much enjoy this novel as get tangled up in it. Few facts have survived about the real Mary Saunders, but Emma Donghue’s imagined Mary seems very real for much of the novel. Hogarthian London is uncomfortable: the brutality, poverty and pain is distressing. And Monmouth? If only Mary could have settled. If only.
‘Clothes outlived people, she knew that.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
sscs's review against another edition
3.0
It wasn't awful, but I don't feel like I really understood it and I had a lot of problems with the tone. The whole book was written building up to something that I had no idea it was building up to. The writing itself was good, but I really just couldn't get my head around it.
wanderlustsleeping's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my god. This book did NOT go in the direction I thought it was going to go. I thought this was going to be a successful tale of a young girl from rags to riches through the harsh life of prostitution. That would have been an interesting read in and of itself, but this story was about family, liberty, and and most of all frustration. It was the focus on frustration that truly made this book a great read for me. As a kid I never cried from pain or sadness, I cried only when I was extremely frustrated, and as I read this book I could feel Mary's frustration as if it was my own, building up inside of me. Fantastic writing!