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Slammerkin: A loose gown; a loose woman. Born to rough cloth in Hogarth's London, but longing for silk, Mary Saunders's eye for a shiny red ribbon leads her to prostitution at a young age. A dangerous misstep sends her fleeing to Monmouth, and the position of household seamstress, the ordinary life of an ordinary girl with no expectations. But Mary has known freedom, and having never known love, it is freedom that motivates her. Mary asks herself if the prostitute who hires out her body is more or less free than the "honest woman" locked into marriage, or the servant who runs a household not her own? And is either as free as a man? Ultimately, Mary remains true only to the three rules she learned on the streets: Never give up your liberty. Clothes make the woman. Clothes are the greatest lie ever told.
BookshelfMonstrosity: Based on sensational true crimes of yesteryear, these character-driven historical novels focus on young women whose attempts to escape lives of poverty and abuse lead to violence. Both disturbing, suspenseful books present nuanced psychological portraits of their protagonists.… (meer)
BookshelfMonstrosity: Although Slammerkin is more suspenseful and richly detailed than the spare, reflective Burial Rites, both character-driven historical novels draw upon true stories of young women accused of murder. Emphasis on the protagonists' impoverished backgrounds allows for exploration of social issues.… (meer)
The novel is structured in such a way that it exerts a considerable grip, the tension slowly, painfully building, yet the writing is also evocative and Donoghue has a particularly good eye for costume and the way cloths confer status, the fine stitching, the liquid warmth of velvet and the stays that sculpt a woman's body as if it were putty, as if it were a sinful thing that needed to be fixed.
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither.
The Book of Job, 1:21
Slammerkin, noun, eighteenth century, of unknown origin.
1. A loose gown. 2. A loose woman.
Opdracht
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
This book is for my agent and tireless ally, Caroline Davidson.
Eerste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
There once was a cobbler called Saunders who died for eleven days. At least, that was how his daughter remembered it. -Prologue
The ribbon had been bright scarlet when Mary Saunders first laid eyes on it, back in London. 1760: she was thirteen years old. The fat strip of satin was the exact colour of the poppies that grew in Lamb's Conduit Fields at the back of Holborn, where the archers practised. It was threaded into the silver hair of a girl Mary used to look out for at the Seven Dials. -Chapter One, Ribbon Red
Citaten
Laatste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
She came down with a clean snap, and the crowd scattered like birds from the swing of her feet.
Slammerkin: A loose gown; a loose woman. Born to rough cloth in Hogarth's London, but longing for silk, Mary Saunders's eye for a shiny red ribbon leads her to prostitution at a young age. A dangerous misstep sends her fleeing to Monmouth, and the position of household seamstress, the ordinary life of an ordinary girl with no expectations. But Mary has known freedom, and having never known love, it is freedom that motivates her. Mary asks herself if the prostitute who hires out her body is more or less free than the "honest woman" locked into marriage, or the servant who runs a household not her own? And is either as free as a man? Ultimately, Mary remains true only to the three rules she learned on the streets: Never give up your liberty. Clothes make the woman. Clothes are the greatest lie ever told.
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Boekbeschrijving
Engeland, de achttiende eeuw. Mary Saunders groeit op in armelijke omstandigheden en moet zelf maar zien hoe ze zich redt. Op haar dertiende werkt ze overdag als aankomende japonnennaaister, 's avonds begeeft ze zich in de duistere wereld van de prostitutie. Zolang ze zich voordoet als een onschuldig meisje loopt ze geen gevaar; met leugens bouwt ze een afweerschild.
Maar Mary droomt van veel meer dan eten en een dak boven haar hoofd: ze wil de fraaie jurken die ze naait zelf dragen en wordt op fatale wijze aangetrokken tot de betoverende wereld van de hogere klasse.
Uiteindelijk moet Mary Londen ontvluchten en doet ze een poging een nieuw bestaan op te bouwen in Monmouth, een plaatsje op de grens van Engeland en Wales waar haar moeder vandaan kwam. Haar verleden haalt haar echter sneller in dan haar lief is, en de dramatische gebeurtenissen volgen elkaar op totdat een tragedie onafwendbaar is.