by Emma Donoghue
For want of a red satin ribbon, Mary Saunders was hanged for murder at the age of sixteen in 1764. "In her sixteen years she'd shot along the shortest route she could find between life and death, as the crow flew" (p. 376). Emma Donoghue's astonishing novel, Slammerkin, is based on the sketchy histo...
Set in London and Monmouth in the eighteenth century, Slammerkin is the story of Mary, a fourteen year old girl abandoned by her family and forced to resort to prostitution in order to survive. Be warned - it is often deeply harrowing. However, Emma Donoghue's eye for detail, coupled with her deligh...
I hate endings like this.That is all.(read for school)
In many ways Slammerkin reminded me of older Danish books in style (like Ditte Menneskebarn and Guds blinde øje to name a couple of examples), but unfortunately that's not an entirely good thing. I've always thought those books too depressing for their own good and much to my disappointment, Slammer...
With 1751's Calendar Reform Act, Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar implemented elsewhere in 1582; resulting in the elimination of 11 days between September 2 and 14, 1752. The edict, viewed as more than a mere alteration in the calculation of time, caused widespread riots; grounded as much in p...
Bleak story, but pretty good.
Men aren't cast in a good light in Slammerkin; no good guys here. The story had an authentic feel and Donoghue tells a great story. I recommend this one.
This was a serious story about a serious woman caught in the underbelly of London life. Her escape from the city proves to be more then she bargained for. Memorable.
The sense of period was very strong, but the story is sort of Victorianly punishing, so I didn't love it.
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