Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jun 2001
352 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Information
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.
"Donoghue's characterizations are excellent, and her brutal imagery and attention to language capture the spirit of the time with vital precision." - Publishers Weekly.
"An ideal choice for book groups; recommended for all public and academic libraries." - Library Journal.
"What is most amazing is Donoghue's capacity for tackling weighty issues (prostitution, crime, and slavery) while avoiding didacticism." - Booklist.
""Donoghue has produced an absorbing, moving, and intelligent work of fiction . . . an exhilarating dialogue..." - The Times (UK).
"Finding a language that inhabits but is in no way weighted down by its time, Donoghue has made of an 'obscure and brutal story' a compelling novel . . . and a brilliant historical variant on the 'girl about town." - The Financial Times (UK).
This information about Slammerkin was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Born in Dublin in 1969, Emma Donoghue is an Irish emigrant twice over: she spent eight years in Cambridge doing a PhD in eighteenth-century literature before moving to London, Ontario, where she lives with her partner and their two children. She also migrates between genres, writing literary history, biography, stage and radio plays as well as fairy tales and short stories. She is best known for her novels, which range from the historical (The Wonder, Frog Music, Slammerkin, Life Mask, Landing, The Sealed Letter) to the contemporary (Stir-Fry, Hood, Landing). Her international bestseller Room was a New York Times Best Book of 2010 and was a finalist for the Man Booker, Commonwealth, and Orange Prizes.
Author Interview
Link to Emma Donoghue's Website
Name Pronunciation
Emma Donoghue: don-a-hue
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