Slammerkin - Emma Donoghue
Strangers might remember a trip to Monmouth to see a girl hang, but who would spare a
... more
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
Advantages: It is a great book which you can't put down. Really enjoyable and exciting. Barbara Taylor Bradford is an excellent author and all her books make you keep turning the pages and this is no exception Disadvantages: It is the fourth novel out of 5 and if you haven't read the first three you would get confused with the story
...The story is based around a girl called Evan whose grandmother dies. When she dies she tells Evan to find an old friend of hers Emma Harte. Evan looks for her only to discover she died some years back. She meets the family and they think she looks a lot like Emmas granddaughter Paula. Evan starts work for Paula and they become friends Paulas cousin becomes aware of the similarities between Paula and Evan. She decides to do some investigating and eventually she finds Emmas diary from back in the war. It tells of Emma and a friend back then who turns out to be Evans grandmother. Evans grandmother was in love with Emmas son but married someone else. The story unfolds and leaves you guessing right to the end is Evan a descendant of Emma Harte?...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: well thought through book characters are well explained Disadvantages: very similar to her others
...I have read many of Jane Austens books and i found that 'Emma' is a well written book. Like Emma, Jane tells all the detail we need to know i feel that i could fall in love with the character and the surroundings.
Quick-witted, beautiful, headstrong and rich, Emma Woodhouse is inordinately fond of match-making select inhabitants of the village of Highbury, yet aloof and oblivious as to the question of whom she herself might marry. This paradox multiplies the intrigues and sparkling ironies of Jane Austen's masterpiece, her comedy of a sentimental education through which Emma discovers a capacity for love and marriage.
I like to see Emma in love, and in some doubt of return; it would do her good," Jane Austen has developed Emma's character well.
When i read this book it makes me feel that i know Emma quite well.
If you have read...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: This is a book for today's woman Disadvantages: None
...I suspect that Emma Bovary was not meant to be a feminist icon,but that is how I see her.When the young Emma left home to marry the respectable but oh-so-dull Doctor Charles Bovary,she did so as a young girl with a heart full of romance and passion.Trapped in a boring marriage,and seeking the thrills and sparkle that it is the right of every young girl to want,Emma becomes tarnished with the adjective "slut".Oh,when was it ever different?Emma wants only to be loved,but her idea of love is somewhat different.What parallels can we draw today?Young,passionate girl marries staid,older man?I leave it to you to draw your own conclusions.
Read this book,girls....
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
This product has not yet been reviewed. 
13.09.2005
11.01.2001
01.11.2000
