My, my, my.....how can one woman survive all of these crimes and husbands, incest and deportation, and still live happily ever after? Maybe it is the close brush with death by hanging that brought about fairly devout penitence? Tough to say, but nonetheless, it was a delightful read! One could wax poetic about the sexism, but what's the point when it was written in the 1700s? Just sit back and give yourself over to this rollicking read! ( )

I've probably read no other fiction with such attention to details, or written as many notes in the margins, as with this old edition of Moll Flanders. It's a fascinating mess, and I adore it. That said, it's going into the trade pile. It's time to say goodbye, Moll. She says, "And now withstanding all the Fatigues, and all the Miseries we have both gone thro', we are in good Heart and Health." ( )

The plot of this novel is best summarized by its extended title: "The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, Etc. Who was born in Newgate, and during a life of continu'd Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own brother), Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest and died a Penitent. Written from her own Memorandums." More specifically, Moll's life started off tragically for when she was born she was immediately given to a nurse by whom she was raised. Moll's mother was convicted of a petty felony when she was pregnant and was sent to a Virginia plantation right after Moll was born. When Moll's nurse dies, Moll is sent to live with a prominent family where she learns how to be a "gentlewoman" along side the daughters of the family. She then falls in love with one of the sons in the family and becomes his mistress. When Moll is jilted by her lover, she is forced to marry his brother. This is her first marriage in a long line of tragic marriages and failed relationships.

Though this story had more substance than Fanny Hill, I was a bit disappointed because it was written 30 years after Fanny Hill yet there were few improvements made to the story. While Fanny Hill was more crude and sexually explicit, Moll Flanders was more character driven. Still, there are few difference between the two. Both women are naive and deceived by the world in such a way that causes them to act in immoral ways in order to survive. Though this is exciting at first and both women appear almost adventurous, it gets tedious. Still, both of these novels were revolutionary for their time and should be regarded as such.

www.iamliteraryaddicted.blogspot.com ( )

Considered one of the first English novels, Daniel Defoe's "Moll Flanders" was published in 1722. To put that date in perspective, Moll first appeared about 100 years after Shakespeare died and forty years before "Tristam Shandy" made his debut.

Given the amount of time that separates our world from Defoe's, one of the most striking things is how approachable, accessible, readable, and downright entertaining "Moll Flanders" is. It's both a page-turner and an august member of the High Canon of Literature, which is a more rare combination than one would hope.

Moll is a fully realized character, a woman you could easily imagine stepping off the page and into the world. Defoe of course doesn't engage in any psychological exploration of her motives or feelings, which seems a bit foreign for a modern reader. But there is something rather refreshing about a novel in which the characters aren't absorbed in self reflection. The details of Moll's life -- from the art and craft of being a cut-purse, to the abandonment of the old world for the newly minted America -- are plenty engrossing.

While I enjoy modern historical fiction, there is nothing quite like seeing the past through the eyes of an author for whom it was the present. ( )

A great trip through seventeenth century England. ( )