Book 10: Slammerkin

TITLE: Slammerkin
AUTHOR: Emma Donoghue
STARTED: February 21, 2008
FINISHED: March 1, 2008
PAGES: 390
GENRE: Fiction

FIRST SENTENCE: There once was a cobbler called Saunders who died for eleven days.

SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] Born to rough cloth in working-class London in 1748, Mary Saunders hungers for linen and lace. Her lust for a shiny red ribbon leads her to a life of prostitution at a young age, where she encounters a freedom unknown to virtuous young women. But a dangerous misstep sends her fleeing to Monmouth and the refuge of the middle-class household of Mrs. Jones, to become the seamstress her mother always expected her to be and to live the ordinary life of an ordinary girl. Although Mary becomes a close confidante of Mrs. Jones, her desire for a better life leads her back to prostitution. She remains true only to the three rules she learned on the streets of London: Never give up your liberty; Clothes make the woman; Clothes are the greatest lie ever told. In the end, it is clothes, their splendor and their deception, that lead Mary to disaster.

THOUGHTS: Hello pretty writing.

I can't think of the last time I enjoyed the narrative writing of a book so much. Donoghue's use of vivid, descriptive language brings this story to life in full Technicolor glory. They way she describes her characters actions, emotions, and clothing can only be described as sumptuous. This was one book I could not put down simply because the writing was so breathtakingly beautiful.

The story Donoghue tells is rather straightforward: a downtrodden girl sells herself (in every way possible) for the love of beautiful clothes. In portraying her character as such, Donoghue has crafted a story with no real protagonist. In fact, most of the characters can hardly be called redeeming. This is a story of vice and how people succumb to its seduction. I may have not "liked" the characters as people, but I loved them as figures of narrative. Donoghue does not feel the need to "pretty" her story; it just is.

Excuse me, I'm off to go run my hands over some snowy white linen.

RATING: 8/10 [Terrific]